


Good,Bad and everything in between

by Assaultfox



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Crime, Gen, Predator Supremacy AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2018-11-16 00:48:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 36
Words: 80,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11242803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assaultfox/pseuds/Assaultfox
Summary: In an alternate version of Zootopia prey mammals live to be food for predators. Runa Rabbit is one of these mammals but one fateful day something terrible happens on the farm and she has a difficult decision to make : What is she supposed to do with her new found freedom ? And how does Liska Hunter tie into this whole thing ? (AU Nick and AU Judy will be introduced in later Chapters)





	1. Life on the Farm

Life as a mammal of any kind isn't exactly hard, nor is it really unfair , after all everyone could be anything.

Unless you are prey. Mammals who fall into this category of intelligent lifeforms have a heavy cross to bear in society, as they still get eaten by those who are lucky enough to be a predator.

Not just like that of course. But in this world, life for those who are prey is a little different from that of their fanged counterparts.

Most prey mammals grow up in closed communities where they will be put to work till they are old enough to be culled. These communities were called Farms.

Runa Rabbit happens to be one of these mammals. Her home is a Farm called Burrow 23 which happens to just lie at the foot of a mountain near a river surrounded by the farmland the inhabitants of Burrow 23 cultivate. Life in the Farm is relatively simple.

The rabbits in the burrow get to be kits and fool around till they become 12 years old. As of that day they have to work in the fields till they become 25 years old and get culled.

There are however special rules in place for female rabbits. Females are freed from working in the fields if they are pregnant. And after their third successful litter or during their pregnancy they are responsible for tending to the kits well being instead. So no female was forced to have kits unless there were too few kits to sustain the farm and the demand for fresh meat.

Luckily for Runa enough of her siblings were happily producing litter after litter so she would not have to worry about being forced to mate with some buck another Farm had sent over.

She actually liked working in the fields and disliked the thought of her future children being eaten by some predator when she had already long been eaten herself. It just felt so wrong to her.

And she enjoyed having time off after working in the fields ,mothers never had time off, as watching over their kits was a full time job 24 hours a day 7 days a week. She spent most of her time after work watching TV or reading books from the burrows library.

And so it was that on this chilly summer evening there was one young doe sitting in one of the barns reading a romance novel about two young rabbits while most of the other inhabitants of Burrow 23 had already gone back into the burrow.

As the sun was setting over the horizon a loud noise pierced the silence and startled Runa into falling of the ledge she had been resting upon.

"Dammit ", she cursed as she was getting up again. "What the hell was that ?"

As Runa made her way over to the barns door she could hear screams and see light come through the windows and from under the door , too much light !

Why was there so much light ?

When she finally opened the door her question was answered.

Burrow 23 was in flames. She saw a few of the Farms guards running towards the fire.

They were mostly foxes and wolves and were probably trying to put out the fire.

And so she grabbed a bucket and ran towards the burning burrow as well ,trying to help as much as she could.

The thought to use this chance to escape did not occur to her at all.

After all there was no where to go outside the Farm.

So she had to save her home.

When she had almost reached the burning building she saw something weird.

One lone fox was standing in front of two of the farms guards who had their stun batons ready in their paws.

She knew he was no guard due to the fact that he was not wearing a uniform like the other predators present.

To her surprise upon closer inspection he looked like he was taken straight out of an action movie.

His fur was jet black the only thing that gave him away as a fox was his bushy tail with the white,grayish tip.

He had amber eyes that seemed to glow from the inside ,though that might have just been the reflection of the flames around him in his eyes. He was wearing black cargo pants and a black hoodie with dark gray accents. Over said hoodie he was wearing what seemed to be a military west with lots of pouches. He also had a holster on his right leg in which he carried what she assumed had to be a tranq gun like the rifles the guards on the towers surrounding the fields used, just smaller.

He was calmly watching both of the guards as if daring them to make a move. While Runa just stood there and watched.

Suddenly one of the guards, a wolf wearing the usual blue uniform ,darted towards the fox and the stun baton began to bristle. The black furred fox immediately dodged the stabbing motion and proceeded to grab the wolf by his wrist and pull him forwards while also tripping him with his hindpaw causing the poor wolf to tumble too close to the burning building, resulting in a blood curdling scream as his fur caught fire.

Meanwhile the other guard a regular red fox decided to reach for his taser instead of continuing to use his baton. But the black furred fox was faster and had drawn his gun already while tripping the other guard.

To the surprise of Runa and sadly for the fox there was no tranq dart flying towards the guard foxes head when he pulled the trigger but instead a bullet proceeded to spray the insides of his head all over the ground.

The black furred fox smirked, "Amateurs!"

He was swiveling his head around scanning his surroundings when suddenly his eyes started to rest on Runa.

And there she stood.

A Castor Rex rabbit in an orange jumpsuit. Paralyzed by fear.

She was positively horrified , as a small part of her mind decided to be impressed by the display of power and death before her molded into this form after millennia upon millennia of evolution.

While her instincts reminded her that this was a predator.

And said predator was now walking towards her.

She knew there would be no escape.

So she did as her instincts demanded and with a high pitched squeak she collapsed herself into a shivering ball of fur waiting for her death.

"I am not going to eat you", his voice was smooth, but she did not dare to open her eyes just because of his words or because she liked his voice , no an irrational fear inside her head dictated her to keep them closed as if that would protect her from whatever harm he might be able to inflict upon her.

"Am I really that scary ?",his question was only answered by a whimper from her.

"Listen all I need from you is some information and you are free.", when there was no reaction from her after a while she heard him picking up her bucket followed by the faint sound of his paws hitting the grass as he started moving.

"Let's hope this will work.", he said before she heard him using the nearby waterpump.

The cogs in her head started turning, why was he using the pump?

She assumed he made the fire. The fire that killed all her family and friends. Why would he try to extinguish it on his own with only a bucket ?

Not that made no sense at all. And because she was mulling over what he might intend to do with the water, she did not notice that he had returned to her side.

And suddenly there everything was wet and cold.

Did he just pour a bucket of water over her ?

She was shocked. And she was even more shocked when she realized that she was not curled up anymore. But instead sitting upright staring into those amber eyes she had seen before as he was now kneeling before her.

"Care to talk to me now fluff ?",came his immediate question.

Pulling herself together she managed to form a sentence.

"Mmmy nnname is Rruna", she stuttered.

He was smiling at her.

"My name is Liska. And I need you to show me where you keep the harvest around here."

Another wave of fear rushed over her. She could see in his eyes that he realized this.

" I promise that if you tell me I won't harm you. I swear on my tail.", he said with a smirk.

"You swear on your tail ?" , the question was out before she even realized it.

"I like my tail", he said. " It is so fluffy and helps me to keep balance. I just would not feel complete without it."

She could not help but laugh. Liska had just done horrible things in front of her. He had killed mammals. But here he was talking about how fluffy and important his tail is instead of ,well eating her.

"So please tell me ? This place is so big and I am running out of time, you moved that place right ?" She took a deep breath. "You promise you won't hurt me? "

" I swore on my tail fluff. It does not get more serious than that." ,he replied.

She closed her eyes and took another deep breath before talking.

"Yes we moved the crops from the burrow into the newly built warehouse at the south end of the property" She had her eyes still closed waiting for the immediate betrayal from the fox.

And a shiver ran through her when she felt his paw on her back but did not dare to move , and then the other one below her legs. And suddenly she realized he had picked her up and was now carrying her around.

"What?!" ,was the only intelligible thing she could get out of her mouth as she stared up at his jaw.

"I am taking you with me in case you lied to me.", came the reply to the question she had almost forgotten she had asked.

And while her heart was pounding like it was trying to get out of her chest.

For the first time that evening she began to wonder why the fox was actually there and what this meant for her.


	2. The evening walk

So there she was in the arms of a predator she had just met, on his way to do god knows what.

She she should be outright terrified and she was, but not as much as she thought she needed to be.

And she began to wonder if she was not normal. Any mammal would have a breakdown after all of this. And of course there were all those mixed emotions inside her head. But instead of grieving over her dead friends and family here she was just silently contemplating her situation.

It was like there were too many emotions to feel and so her mind had decided she shouldn't feel any.

Maybe this was some ancient instinct to keep her alive.

So she made a decision.

"Why ?", she timidly asked.

And for a moment there, she wondered if he had even heard her.

Just when she was about to muster up the courage to ask once more he answered.

"Why what ?" His calm question left her baffled. For a moment she was stunned, before righteous anger broke her stupor. " What do you mean why what ?" , she all but screamed ,causing Liska to almost drop her.

"Why did you come here ? Why did you kill the guards , why...", her voice broke for a moment. So there was her grief. But she could not stop now, and her anger over his incredibly stupid question certainly helped with that.

"...wwhy did you burn down my home ?" ,by the end of the sentence she had finally started crying.

To her surprise Liska began to move her into an upright position causing her head to come resting on his shoulder. And what surprised her even more was that he started stroking her ears which felt like they had been glued to the back of her head by this point.

"I am truly sorry, that your home caught fire." ,he began trying to soothe her.

" I had no intention of doing that but when I was fighting some of the guards there was an accident and it just happened." ,his words fell on deaf ears however as Runa was still crying after having finally realized the reality of the situation.

Everyone she knew was gone. The place she lived in and grew up in was gone as well.

What was left for her now ? What would the Farm owners do with her, now that there was no Farm for her to live in anymore ?

"I actually intended to set all of the rabbits on this farm free.", this time his words were heard.

And while she slowly started to realize what that meant he continued, " So them being dead is a problem for me."

"Why ?",came her question once more, this time there was more hope in it.

"That seems to be your favorite word, fluff. Do you want the real answer ?" , he asked with a light chuckle while still stroking her ears. "Or the one that makes you feel better ?"

She wanted to answer but the words got stuck in her throat ,her heart was still trying to escape her chest and dread finally washed over her. Yes why would he free his food ?

Of course she had heard about the Free Prey movement which wanted to free prey mammals from this unjust system of being workers till they were old enough to become food as their name implied.

But she always thought this group to be prey only. And she had never heard of them doing something this big before on the news. Freeing individual mammals and small groups ,yes that was why they were on the news constantly , small attacks on government assets and stuff like that as well. But taking down a whole Farm ? No that was unheard of. So if he was not FP activist then why would he do this ?

His voice broke her train of thought then and there. "You have gone awfully quiet, my dear rabbit friend. Is this question really that hard to answer ?"

Panic washed over her. "No",she blurted out defiantly. She could feel that he had stopped stroking her and felt a little bad when she realized that she missed him doing that. Because no matter how scary he was to her, as a bunny she found comfort in these kind of gestures. And comfort seemed hard to come by at the moment. Just as she realized that she was spacing out again he continued. "I am still waiting for an answer though. "

She could almost physically feel the verbal jab. She did not want to embarrass herself further and decided to give him an answer.

"I want an honest answer", she said proudly turning her head so she could see his face rather than his shoulder, which even then seemed difficult due to their size difference. To her surprise a smile flashed over his muzzle. While his eyes where still scanning their surroundings as he moved.

"Brave",he paused for a moment to tilt his head slightly so he could look at her. "I like that."

He gave a small sigh before continuing.

"I wanted to use you as a diversion. You know, getting the police off my track by making it appear as though this was a revolution staged by the Free Prey movement." He straightened his head again before he continued.

"So I can steal myself away while they catch all the farm rabbits again and blame FP. "

Once more she was stunned. Of course what he said made sense. And that was all it needed to do.

She did not know his motivations for all of this at all. So for all she knew using many prey mammals as a patsy and a diversion at the same time did not seem too bad from a predators perspective. And she honestly believed that it would have been better than everyone dying.

But apparently a part of her had hoped for a better answer than that. Disillusioned as she now was she could not help but ask. " So why did you come here then ?" , for a brief moment she thought about what kind of trouble she could get in by asking this , but she continued regardless.

"I mean this is a farm what could you possibly gain from killing the guards ?"

Suddenly his eyes seemed to harden and his voice turned cold as ice.

" That's my business not yours."

Every hair on her body stood up as fear paralyzed her.

Every attempt she had planned in order to retaliate seemed to have vanished into thin air.

His voice turned soft again when he continued.

"So long as you keep out of my business you won't have any problems with me. Okay ?"

She thought he wanted an answer. She also knew that at this moment she wouldn't be able to give him one. As her throat felt like she had tried to swallow some rocks.

To her surprise there was no second inquiry whether or not she had understood him. He just started stroking her ears again.

After a while of walking Liska stopped and put her down. This confused her deeply as they were not anywhere near the warehouse yet. But as she looked around she saw the reason for their stop.

They were standing in front of a fox sized car it was a robust looking pickup that seemed oddly appropriate. As Liska opened the drivers side door she wondered whether she should use this chance to run. But she dismissed this thought immediately as her chances of survival where probably better if she stayed on his good side rather than trying to outrun him and then try to survive all by her lonesome.

So instead of running away she made her way over to the passenger side of the truck.

Liska opened the door from her from the inside with one swift motion and beckoned her to come in.

She hopped into the truck and pulled the door closed behind her.

"For a moment there I seriously thought you were going to run away", he stated flatly.

She immediately stared down at her paws while blushing hard. How the hell was he able to read her mind that easily ? Was she really that predicable ?

"Don't worry", he said and she could hear the smile he had on his muzzle. "I promised ,remember?"

Suddenly it dawned on her. She might not know why he was here and he might have had plans that would have worked out bad for her. But right here right now he was the only mammal she had. And if she did not trust him why should he trust her.

As the engine roared to life and they started driving to their destination she had concluded that her best way of action was helping Liska to the best of her abilities so he would later hopefully help her.


	3. Arson is a crime

As it got progressively darker outside, they were driving down the dirt roads she knew like the back of her paw, she had never been anywhere else after all. The burrow fire still glowing ominously on in the distance. Why was there no one coming to put it out ? But she tried not to think about what had just happened what seemed like just moments ago. But that was hard. So she decided to focus on Liska. And to her surprise he seemed to know his way around these dirt roads as well.

Without asking her once he took all the right turns to continue driving south.

So it should not take them too long to get to the warehouse. But that brought back another haunting thought.

What would he do once they got there?

And what about after that ?

She had decided to trust him after entering the car. So he could trust her. She had decided to help with whatever help she was able to provide to him. So he might help her in return.

But a nagging part of her brain asked her not to. That part of her brain that told her again and again that he was a predator. A creature that had evolved over thousands of years in order to be her adversary. A monster designed by nature to take her down and eat her.

She could feel fear taking over once more while thinking these things. But a morbid fascination replaced her fear now that she had a chance to look at him this closely. For a moment there she was awestruck by him. It like all the things she had heard in stories from her mom about the old days before mammals were civilized were there in some form. There were those fangs she had heard about in the old tales. There were his muscles that she could barely see beneath his fur. Those muscles that she knew where most certainly there. Those muscles that by natures design where all means to her end.

And there was that jet black fur with it's white accents that reminded her of the story about what happens to rabbits when they die. That a fox with fur as dark as the night itself would come and take their souls away.

She had heard many stories about that particular type of fox. Her mom always told her that the black fox could be reasoned with. He might always be hungry and always on the take for another rabbit soul.

But if one made an offering to the black fox to eat instead. He might not take the dying rabbit away and that rabbit might be able to recover before the black fox came back.

Or if the rabbit died while the black fox was still away his soul had a chance to flee to the stars before the black fox came back. Which was why some rabbits still offered food to the black fox whenever one of their own was close to death or had already died.

Thinking about Liska this way certainly made him even more intimidating. But it also made him easier to approach for her.

After all her mother had always told her not to be afraid because the black furred fox, could be reasoned with.

She was brought back to reality when the truck finally stopped about a hundred meters in front of the warehouse.

She had wanted to keep quiet unless Liska spoke first in order to avoid antagonizing him.

However, now,her fear got the best of her once more. And she could not help but ask :

"What are you going to do now?"

Her eyes where still trained on Liska who had just killed the engine.

He did not turn to look at her. He just stared into the still young night that laid just beyond the windshield.

His voice was calm when he answered: "I am going to burn this place down."

Now he turned to face her. Focusing her with his amber colored eyes.

"I assume you where asking this because you want to know what is going to happen to you now ?",the way Liska said this word while showing most of his teeth made heart once more skip a beat before it started to pound in record time while her nose twitched like mad and her ears dropped behind her head. This was the moment her instincts had warned her about. This was the moment she had desperately hoped would not happen. But there he was sitting before her tall and strong as he was ,while bearing his knife like teeth at her.

She closed her eyes waiting for it all to end

But once more the strike she had anticipated never came.

"I am intend on keeping my word.",he said as she opened her eyes only to realize that he was not threatening her with his teeth but rather smirking at her "After all I am very keen on keeping my tail.", he continued, still smirking which now that she had realized what it was and what it meant did cause her another almost heartattack.

"So question is what are you going to do now that you are free ?" ,the question seemed innocent enough but she knew it wasn't.

No this question was right at this moment the bane of her existence.

Dread began to settle in what was she going to do now ?

She had hoped things would continue a little longer. So that she could help Liska out and show him that he could rely on her. So he would consider helping her get a new place in this world she knew so little about, having always been sheltered by the Farm and its guarded boarders.

Like always her train of thought was derailed by said foxes intervention:

"So if you were burning this place down ? How would you go about that ?" ,came a question that baffled her even though she thanked the universe for granting her this chance.

And because the question baffled her she did not answer directly.

Prompting him to ask another question: "I mean, are there any highly flammable substances in there and if so where are they stored ?"

Where there ? Yes she remembered that Jonathan ,back then one of the older rabbits in the warren, had learned the hard way that the insecticides which were used in the fields were highly flammable ,may his soul have found its way to the stars.

"Yes our insecticides we store them in their own separate room.",she answered happily hear ears back up to attention before continuing: "Though I would not burn them because the fumes are very dangerous."

She was glad to be able to show of her knowledge. It made her feel so much more valuable at the moment and that was a well needed change of pace for her.

He nodded, " so you are saying you could show me where they are stored ?"

She could feel her chest swell proudly , " Of course I can !", she exclaimed.

"Alright then ,little rabbit, lead the way.", he said with a smile.

She ignored the fact that he had called her little as she knew that from his perspective that might very well be a fact rather than a jab directed at her. Or at least that was what she chose to think now that things where seeming to go better for her. So she opened the door of the car and jumped out.

Only to be faced with a new found problem. It was cold outside. Normally the cool breeze of the evening ,or night in this case, did not bother her too much. But she had almost forgotten her little unwilling bath time when Liska had used the water bucket to get her attention and snap her out of her panic. Thanks to her very short fur and the AC in the truck her fur was a lot dryer than it used to be when Liska had splashed her. But her fur was mostly still damp and with the temperature drastically falling from the interior of the truck to the outside of the truck. She could not help but shiver. And on top of being cold the little bit of light that the moon gave through its presence was barely enough to make out rough shapes in the dark . Now that the headlights of the truck were turned off.

"You going to be okay little rabbit ?",came the foxes voice that made her jump a little bit from directly behind her. How did he get there ? She turned around and saw his amber eyes reflecting what little light there was while his dark clothes and fur made him blend into the darkness that surrounded him so naturally. That and the fact that he had snuck up on her like that made her believe just how effective foxes had been painted in the stories of old.

"Ssure", she stuttered her reply.

"Really?", came his smooth voice through the darkness , "then let's go!"

He placed a paw on her back, which made her jump a little bit once more. And started guiding her towards the Warehouse.

Once they were about ten meters away from the warehouse the motion sensors of the automatic lighting system responded to their presence and made her able to see once more. She immediately started heading towards the door at and increased pace causing Liskas paw to leave her back as he followed just a few steps behind her.

The warehouse was designed to mainly accommodate rabbits, but it was also build so that the larger predators which guarded the facility could enter if needed. This lead to every entrance having two doors. One which was a little large for rabbits , but still small enough for them to open. So that the countless foxes that worked as guards could use it as well. And one big door that could be used by anything that was too big for the smaller door but not bigger than a tiger.

Once she reached the door she almost automatically entered the pass code into the code lock and swung the door open.

"Wow an electronic lock",came Liska's voice from behind, "I guess I have to thank you this might have proven to be time consuming without your help. So thank you."

This reaction of his surprised her more than anything else. She had never heard a predator thank prey for something before. She turned around an mumbled an embarrassed, "no problem."

She then made a fast turn back in the opposite direction in order to lead him towards his goal.

The lights inside the warehouse came to live once she sat foot in it.

They had gone in from the north side. So now they were in a large room filled with rows upon rows of crates and hay balls.

She did not even look at them though as she was determined to make her way through being half way through the room something began to unsettle her.

It was the total lack of footsteps sounding behind her that made her wonder whether or not Liska was actually still following her. So she turned around only to be faced with said foxes chest.

"Is something wrong ?" ,came his immediate inquiry about the situation , tilting his head to the side.

"Yes", she blurted out before thinking, "I could not hear you at all so I though I might have lost you."

He straightened his head and smiled, " don't worry you won't loose me at that pace."

By the end of the sentence his smile had turned into a smug smirk and she turned around once more. The insides of hear ears pink from embarrassment. They soon reached the end of the room where there was another door with another code lock. She entered the code and opened the door.

Inside where blue plastic barrels. With white labels and lots of orange warning signs on them.

She turned around and proudly exclaimed," here we are those are the insecticides we use on the crops."

He seemed to scan the room before nodding ,"alright this will do."

Liska started fumbling around his military vest before holding a long cylindrical object in his paw.

"Here hold this.",he said while giving said object to her ," be careful with the pin."

She focused on the object she was now holding in her paws.

WAS THAT A GRENADE ?

She almost dropped it. But yes there was a pin there was a lever like she had seen on grenades in action movies. But the grenades she had seen were always round and green.

This one was different.

Hearing a loud thud made her flinch.

She turned her head to see that Liska had pushed one of the barrels onto its side and started rolling it out of the door and towards some of the crates. She decided to follow him.

Once they were a little bit deeper inside the bigger room he stopped.

"Okay let's do this.", she could see him flexing his muscles a bit ,"damn those barrels are heavy."

She couldn't help but smile at his words. It made him seem more vulnerable and therefore less intimidating.

"Listen Runa",she was immediately at full attention when she heard her name ,"I want you to give me that smoke grenade back after I open the lid of this barrel and then run as fast as you can towards the exit.", he made eye contact with her probably to emphasis his words, "understood ?"

And it worked. She nodded and couldn't help the "Yes Sir!",that she was so used to when it came to speaking with preds. "Good girl.", came his reply before he used his claws to open the barrel's lid which was facing away from them. Once the lid was open a strong chemical smell filled the room in seconds.

Alarming Runa who knew just how dangerous those fumes where and causing her to take some steps back. Liska walked towards her and she offered him the grenade with both paws while the contents of the barrel spilled further into the room.

He pulled the pin and she remembered his words about running and so she turned around and sprinted towards the exit.

Moments later she heard a hissing sound followed by a small explosion that scared the crap out of her. Once she reached the door the bolted through and was now waiting for Liska to arrive.

A few moments passed and she wondered if something had gone wrong.

But surely enough she saw his pointy ears appear behind one of the crates followed by the rest of his body as he sprinted towards her, "Alright let's get to the car.", he all but shouted.

He did not stop and ran towards the car and so naturally she had to follow him.

Once she reached the car she was breathing heavily. Her door was still open so all she did was flop onto the passenger seat. She heard Liska close his door and reach over to close hers but she did not pay attention to that at all.

No she was looking at the warehouse that was now glowing from the inside while black smoke seeped out of all the openings it found in the buildings structure.

Now there was really nothing left to go back to for her.


	4. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

 

 

“Relax a little.”, came the comment from her left ”It's not like your situation got any worse than it already was.”

Said comment was not really helping her cope with the situation at hand. It did however distract her enough in order to turn her head in order to face him instead of the steadily growing fire not too far from the truck. He looked relaxed, staring at the burning building. Completely and utterly relaxed.

How was he able to be like this ?

Of course she knew predators were different from prey in lots of ways, but she could not imagine that all this death and destruction had no negative effect on him whatsoever.

He cleared his throat “so if you want my opinion, you are tough,brave ,obedient and were smart enough to handle yourself up until now.” ,he made a short pause.

“In other words you have potential. And while I know you probably were only being so helpful towards me because I am the only mammal you can currently turn to.”

Dread gripped her with an iron paw once more. How the hell did read her like a god damn book all the time ? She was sure her current panic was written all over her muzzle but that did not stop him from continuing.

“I am still willing to reward you for that just like you hoped.” ,he finished with a smile.

Relief washed over her and true to form she blurted out her reply without even thinking about it.

“REALLY !?”, his smile turned into a smirk once more. Showing off all those deadly teeth that would have normally given her a minor heart attack.

“Sure” ,her heart made a jump upon hearing this and unlike all those times before. It was finally out of happiness instead out of fear. Which after all that had happened felt really surreal.

“If had to make an educated guess I would say you were hoping I could give you a way out ,right ?

“YES!”,she replied eagerly.

He leaned his head back again his headrest and closed his eyes for a moment before replying.

The anticipation was killing her. It felt like an itch that ,not matter how much she would like to, she knew she could not scratch. It made those few seconds he seemed to ponder over his answer feel like an eternity to her.

“Alright” he turned towards her and showed her his left paw holding up four digits, “I got four options for you.”

He grinned at her and turned his paw so the padded side was showing towards her, now only showing one digit.

“Option number one: I could kill you.”, her heart seemed to stop for a moment and she froze. Not even her ears were moving or they most definitely would have dropped down behind her head.

“Boring, but certainly an option.”

With a flick of his wrist he turned his paw once more ,now showing two digits , snapping her out of her frozen state by reminding her that he was giving her four options to choose from.

“Option number two: I could drive you far away from here and drop you off in a national park where you could try to survive on your own. Certainly less boring than outright killing you.”, he remarked cheerily before flicking up another digit.

“As for option number 3 : This is where it starts to get interesting.” ,her ears jumped to full attention when she heard that. “I could get you in touch with the FPM. I am sure those guys could always use mammals like you. After all you got nothing to loose.”

He took a deep breath before showing her all four digits.

“Or you could go with option number four.”

He paused once more ,his eyes focusing directly on her own.

“Become mine.”

At first his words did not seem to really register in her mind.

Until they actually did. “WHAT !?” ,her fur bristled like she had never experienced before.

If his grin had been any wider the top of his head would probably have fallen off.

“I always wanted a personal assistant.”

She relaxed again , so that was what he meant. For a moment she felt stupid for reading too much into his words. They were different species after all not to mention predator and prey. To him she was probably nothing more than a walking snack. The question was , why should she take him up on his offer. It was without doubt an option to consider since joining a terrorist organization ,no matter how good their cause was, was something that seemed too dangerous to her.

So she decided to just flat out ask him: “ Why would I choose that last option ?”

His grin faded a little and he tilted his head.

“Well I promise you that , as long as you loyally serve me, I will make sure that as long as I live you will not be culled.”

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

“You can't do that.”, she all but stuttered in disbelief “can you?”

His expression turned really serious and his gaze hardened.

“Listen” ,her paws started to fidget and her ears dropped under his gaze “I never go back on my word, never!”

She took the chance to avoid his stare by focusing on her paws.

“So when I say to you that I will take good care of you as long as you are loyal to me in return. That means I will !”

Now it was her turn to take a deep breath. His offer seemed magical to her ,but then again if she joined the Free Prey movement the result would be about the same. So it all came down to what he wanted her to do.

“So what kind of things would you ask of me if I took that fourth option ?”, she did not look at him.

“Well any kind of odd job I can think of. But mainly you would be in charge of cleaning , cooking and such stuff. Like a maid.”

Her ears rose to attention once more and she panicked upon hearing one word. “COOKING ?”

It was not like she could not cook. Naturally when living in a community as big as Burrow 23 cooking and cleaning were hard chores. And as such there were rotating shifts so that everyone over a certain age was involved somehow in order to keep the burrow from descending into chaos.

But at the though of what she would have to cook to satisfy a predators tastes her stomach seemed to turn.

Suddenly she felt a paw on her shoulder. “We would get you used to THAT slowly.”, his voice was smooth and melodic again. She already new that this change was his attempt to soothe her.

“You would get your own room. And if there is nothing to do that means you can do whatever you want. As long as you don't get on my nerves that is.”

His words were enough to make a smile creep its way onto her muzzle. And she could not help but imagine what it would feel like to have her own room. But then another question popped up in her head and the little bit of happiness left again. Her ears dropped “Isn't that a little bit much to give to a prey mammal like me ?”

His paw left her shoulder and wandered under her chin. She could feel one of his claws gently dig into her skin ,not enough to cause discomfort, but enough to be felt as his thumb and another finger cupped her cheeks. He then proceeded to gently turn her head towards him. She almost jumped when she realized how close his muzzle as to hers. He was leaning down towards her and looking at her ,still serious but his eyes were much softer than before.

“I am asking you to dedicate yourself to serving me for the rest of your life. I am asking for your heartfelt loyalty and for you to unconditionally trust me. And even if you said yes you will give me both of those things now. You would not be able to give them to me. Unless I earn it.”

That made an awful lot of sense to her. Him treating her well was a way to ensure that she also did her job well, so he could rely on her.

“I usually don't make offers like these because I choose those close to me very carefully. But you have nothing left and no future without my help. I am willing to take a chance here. So if I give you one, if you choose to give your life to me. Then rest assured that I always take good care of anything that is mine.”

Suddenly his ears which had been in a relaxed neutral position darted upwards and seemed to stiffen.

This sudden and unexpected movement startled her after having relaxed much more than she was willing to admit. He raised his head back up and away from her face. And his ears started to swivel around like small radar dishes.

Naturally this concerned her since Liska seemed to be impervious to fear or anything like it. So she tried to listen and find out what had startled Liska like that.

And there it was , a faint sound in the far distance:

Sirens!

“Seems like our time here is up.”Liska seemed to be back to working mode. His ears still at attention, but not scanning around for sounds like they had done before.

“You can make up your mind on the way.” He turned to face the road and started up the engine as she could hear the sirens growing louder in the distance. Before they were drowned by the rumble of the engine and the sound of the gravel beneath them being flung into the air by the rapidly turning tires.

Why were the public services so late ?

They would not be able to save anyone anymore at this point.

The question only occupied her mind for a brief moment before her existential crises set back in.

Which path should she take ?

She was really glad that Liska had given her the opportunity to think things over.

And so she did.

 

 

**About 3 hours later**

 

She had been weighting the pros and cons of both options in silence, for what felt like the millionth time now.

And the conclusion was still the same.

She wanted to stay with Liska.

Yes he was her natural predator.

Yes he had killed mammals and burned down her home.

Yes he was a fox and as such should not be trusted.

But he was the only mammal she could turn to.

Of course she could take the other option and turn to the FPM. But that was dangerous. And while Liska had said that he would help her get in touch with them. That did not necessarily mean that they would take her. And even if they did it would probably be a much more dangerous life than her other option. She would be a terrorist.

And another voice in the back of her head told her that if she ever decided to do so. She could always try to get in touch with them herself later on. She felt bad about thinking like this. Especially since that would mean breaking her word if she decided to go with Liska. But it was an option and as such had to be considered.

So how to approach this ?

Direct had been the best course of action so far so she opted to go with that.

She took a deep breath ,which caused Liska's right ear to twitch.

Her heart was pounding rapidly in anticipation and fear of his reaction.

“ I decided to stay with you.” ,there she said it.

“So option number four ?” , He asked with his eyes still trained on the road.

“Yes” ,she eagerly replied before asking: “So what do you want me to say ?”

“Let's leave the whole loyalty vow thing for later this day.” ,came the reply she did not expect at all. It actually made her heart feel a little but heavier after having finally decide on what to do with herself.

“I am actually really tired and so are you probably so lets call a rain check on that. After all there are other important things to do.”, she cut him off right there. “No!”

“What do you mean , no ?”, came his question.

And she was prepared to answer. “ I made that decision. I want to spend the rest of my life as your servant as long you vow to take good care of me. So I want to make a vow right now because you are right. I have got nothing left anymore and this is the most important thing there is to me right now.”

She was panting lightly after making her anger about how lightly he took this heard. And she was surprised to see him smiling. “At least you are determined. Alright then go ahead.”

Runa decided to use an old fantasy novel as inspiration for her following words.

She took another deep breath and paused for a moment before proudly stating :

“I ,Runa Rabbit, solemnly vow that I ,as of this moment, have made the decision to serve you loyally until the dark fox takes me from this world or my soul makes it to the stars.”

She took another breath ,never in her life had a sentence felt so heavy and meaningful and more importantly exhausting to her.

“Until the dark fox takes me away?” , she could feel curiosity in his words. “Enlighten me what does that mean ?”

She blushed for a moment realizing that she had just used rabbit symbolism to appeal to a fox. But there was no turning back now ,was there ?

“ In rabbit folklore a fox with fur as dark as the night takes the souls of dying or dead rabbits away. Unless he is bribed with food so that he comes back at a later time. Giving the soul time to escape to the stars. “, she timidly explained. Fully expecting him to be mad at her.

“ I like that idea. I mean it makes us silver foxes feel that much more dangerous.” ,she nodded rapidly. Being just happy at the moment that he was not angry at her.

“So I guess it is my turn then.” ,he said and paused for a moment.

“Runa, I give you my word that as long as you give me your unwavering loyalty. I will take good care of you and protect you till the day that I die.”

He sighted and shook his head a little.

“Okay let's get back on track. There is only one thing that we still need to get done before we can go back home. And that is get you new clothes. As your old overall and your collar will give you away.”

He was right. She was practically stolen from the Farm and her clothes(especially her identification collar) were an easy giveaway.

She had never had other clothes before that. Naturally there were all kinds of different headgear to go around in summer to protect them from the sun. Or heavier clothes in winter. But those were all Farm issued clothes. She liked the idea of having her own stile. This would be lots of fun.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by beeping noises. And surely enough Liska was typing away on an old cellphone and put it against his ear.

She immediately wondered who he might be calling and for which reason but did not dare to interrupt the call.

“Hey, yeah it is me. Listen it is late and I need your help. “ ,he paused for a moment ,” Yeah I need you to find me a store where I can buy rabbit clothes before I get home.”, another pause followed. “No you may not ask why just do it.”, another pause , “listen if I have to ask one more time I will have you for breakfast.”, she could hear a terrified squeak from the phone that caused Liska to hold the offending object further away from his ear. After the sound was gone he held it back to his ear and waited. “Thank you, see you later.”, and he hung up the call.

She could not help but sate her curiosity. “Who was that ?”

He smirked and replied: “Your new roommate.”

 

 

 

**Meanwhile at an undisclosed location**

 

Judy Hopps was utterly terrified as she stared at the mutilated remains of her former comrades. 

He had not even bothered to put them away. She was the last one. And her strength was leaving her rapidly. The metal noose around her neck started to dig deeper and deeper into her fur. Which was only natural. No one could stay up on their toes forever. So here she was standing on a concrete block that was just high enough so that only the tips of her toes could reach it and stop her from slowly getting suffocated by the metal wire. She almost wished for her tormentor to return and put an end to it already.

**Almost.**

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:  
> I just got informed that I aced my Finals and had the maximum score possible in my English oral exam and almost the maximum score on the written part as well. Why am I writing this here ? It motivated me to make another chapter so quickly.
> 
> Now as for the next chapter I need help. I need help because as an average male I have about as much fashion sense as the average cardboard box. So I need someone to help me create one or more Outfits for Runa.(please send help)
> 
> And Judy is finally here and most of the next chapter will be dedicated to her current problems( Violence [Finally])


	5. Visiting the ZIS part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will contain torture (you have been warned)

 

**Earlier at an undisclosed location**

 

When Judy woke up she knew that everything had gone wrong in the most colossal way.

Here she was dangling from the ceiling on what could only be a hook designed for holding up corpses. She could feel the weight on her arms which felt like they were about to rip out at any moment. But her arms weren't the only things were hurting. No, she could still feel a bit of pain in her stomach from the blow that knocked her out flat not so long ago.

And the gag in her mouth did not feel too pleasant either.

Her neck felt a little stiff but it did not really hurt.

This gave her the hope that her captors had not found her tracking ship.

And if the ship was still there, then she could still be saved.

Her eyes scanned the room. It was a large room, for anything smaller than a bear.

It fully tiled in white tiles and she could spot multiple drains on the floor which made it look awfully similar to a big shower room.

Upon further inspection the room was shaped like a T.

On the left she could make out what appeared to be a tub or small pool which was integrated into the ground.

There were also multiple metal lockers on the far wall of the room. They seemed to be military grade equipment with pad locks.

There were also two metal tables which were big enough for a medium to large sized predator to operate on. The tables were close to the center of the room.

A scratching noise made her ear perk up and stop her observation.

There seemed to be something behind her as well, something that was alive.

She tried to turn around. But she could only barely turn her head.

This little bit of wiggling room her head had in her position however was just enough to see the source of the noise behind her.

On her left there was another table just like the two others. This one though was not empty.

And for the first time since waking up she was relieved.

That only lasted for a brief moment.

On the table was one of her comrades, a squirrel named Frederick.

This was all well and good after all this meant she was not alone in this place.

And it also meant that at least one of her comrades was not dead yet.

However it was Fredericks condition that quickly changed her mind.

He was trapped in what appeared to be a glass box.

Said box had holes near the top to allow whatever was trapped inside to breathe.

The problem laid with those holes though.

They were closed by a mechanism located at the top of the box.

It looked like a little lever allowed whoever choose to operate said lever to close the holes with some sort of rubber seal.

The fact that those holes were currently closed was almost as terrifying to her as it must have been to the poor squirrel inside the box.

At the moment he was panicking.

And she could not blame him. Being locked in a room with a limited oxygen supply was absolutely horrible.

And while she was focusing on Frederick as he was trying to open the seal on the holes from the inside she made out something in the corner of her vision. There was at least one cell behind her.

And not only that but that cell was occupied by another one of her comrades if the antler she could see behind the bars was any indication.

That meant that Jordan was also in the room and considering that she and Frederick where also still alive, he might not be dead.

Just as she finished that thought Frederick seemed to have noticed that she was looking at him.

And his panicked expression seemed to make way for a more hopeful one.

I was only for a small stretch of time but it showed her once more that even in a situation like this, her comrades would always believe in her.

Normally this would have made her happy, however since she was in a position where she could do nothing to help her comrades at all, it only frustrated her. After all she had no way to live up to those hopes. The great Judy Hopps was finally defeated.

But then she realized, this was far from over !

There were at least three of them still alive, yes they were restrained and in great peril , but that did not mean that they could not beat the odds and escape together !

After all she still had the chip in her neck that was hopefully signaling her position to her comrades on the outside.

She could hear a door opening and froze immediately.

Someone was coming.

Someone was coming for them!

There was no other reason to be in this room other than that.

And it was now painfully obvious to her what the purpose of this room was.

She could hear the sound of padded paws coming towards her.

Which meant that the door was definitely in the dead angle that the architecture of the room created from her point of view.

Only seconds after he came into view.

The largest wolf she had ever laid eyes on.

His arms crossed behind his back he was a behemoth with black fur and greenish blue eyes.

His tan colored shirt and his woodland camouflage cargo pants made it clear that he was from the military.

Which to her made no sense whatsoever.

Why was the military here ?

Shouldn't this be an intelligence apparatus that was holding them ?

For a moment he just stood there in the middle of the room and mustered them while two smaller, or rather normal sized wolves took positions in the two far corners of the room.

They both wore the same clothes the big wolf had.

But aside from that they also had Tactical vests and were armed with pistols and military grade assault rifles.

All in all that was most definitely overkill.

Why would they need weapons like these when dealing with prisoners that were in such a bad shape to begin with. Wouldn't the pistols that the average police mammal carried around be enough to stop them dead in their tracks ?

While she was contemplating her hopeless situation the lead wolf had decided to move again.

And when he was about one meter away from her he stopped once more.

He was now looking into her eyes and even with her hanging from the ceiling, he still had to look down towards her.

She did her best to look as defiant as possible. Even if the state she was in was anything but giving her hope.

“I hope you had a good rest”,his voice was just as deep as she expected it to be.

“Because if you hadn't, you probably won't get the chance anymore.”, he spoke the threat so casually he might as well have been talking about the weather.

“So” he exclaimed happily while breaking eye contact and walking past her, “I will be completely honest with you.”

He was now behind her which put her on edge after the words he had just uttered. And so she tried to turn her head once more to get a better view just in time to see him pull the lever that opened the seal on the glass box giving Frederick more air to breathe.

“I am in the intelligence business ,that means I provide information to my superiors by knowing things.”,he made a short pause.

“And in order to be able to provide information, I need to acquire it first.”

A shiver ran down her spine. She had heard about what agents from the ZIS could do.

How they would break a mammal and squeeze out any drop of information that seemed even remotely valuable. It was something any resistance member had at least heard about.

Those horror stories were unreal to most however. But Judy knew that there had to be at least some truth to them in order to be so popular.

And now that there was an actual agent in front of her, the horror stories came back to her all at once. Stories about beatings , about starving mammals, stories about electric shocks and drugs.

Was this how it was going to end ?

The lead wolf continued regardless of the state her mind was currently in, “So if you give up all the intelligence you have, willingly, I won't have to get it from you by force.”

There was a moment of silence.

Judy was anxious, what if someone were to betray them ?

They were one of the FPMs top teams. And as such some of them knew loads about their organization and it's secrets. If one of them broke. It could mean the fall of the entire movement.

Not because the movement could be toppled by a few information leaks, but because everyone knew just how capable the ZIS could be once they found a weak spot . That once they found said weak spot they would proceed to go after them one by one till the movement was no more.

The thought was scary to her. And she was determined to endure anything they could throw at her.

But she was not so sure about her comrades.

They were all trained well, yes. But this was a test of endurance and sheer willpower.

Everybody that knew her knew that she had no idea how to quit once she set her mind to doing something. But the others ? How would she know ? Well only time would tell at this point.

Then the dreaded words came,“alright then let's start with you two.”

She heard a key opening a lock followed by frantic noises which were muffled by a gag.

Now she knew that Jordan was indeed still alive and he put the terrifying size of their captor into a new perspective. The fact that the young reindeer male was only a little bit taller than the wolf in question and was being dragged towards the middle of the room like he was a rag doll ,caused any little bit of hope her mind ha clung to about overpowering their captor vanish into thin air.

Just as the situation was getting darker for them she wondered what he had meant by you two.

 

But before she had any real time to wonder her question was answered immediately as the wolf gave another order: ”Agent Wilde come over here and grab that Squirrel for me !”, and another figure showed up from around the corner.

Agent Wilde was a vixen which wore the same outfit as the lead wolf.

She had emerald like eyes, just like beautiful gems. If the situation wasn't so dire she might have stared at her for her eyes alone. But now said Vixen made her way over to grab the box containing her friend and she knew that there could be no good reason for this.

Meanwhile Jordan was in on his knees in the middle of the room.

He was only in his underwear and his arms were restrained behind his back.

He was silent now and she could not see his face but she was sure that he was even more scared than she was.

Then Frederick broke the silence,he was not gagged or muzzled , probably for lack of a small enough gag. “He you damn bitch,whatchu gonna do to me ?” , the Vixen, which was now standing next to the wolf, gave the box a displeased look while he continued.

“You are going to get nothin from me you god damn chompers.”

To her surprise agent Wilde and the wolf seemed completely unmoved by the squirrels words and ultimately it was the wolf that answered.

“Is that a fact ? Well we will see about that.” He turned to face the vixen. “Agent Wilde if you would be so kind as to show our disobedient friend what we do with little prey that are nothing but trouble ?” The vixen nodded and curtly answered: “Yes, sir !”

She resealed the holes in the box and put it on one of the tables before making her way towards one of the lockers in the back. Fredrick meanwhile in the box went ballistic. The airtight seal seemed to block sound well enough though as she could not make out what he was saying anymore.

The wolf at the same time proceeded to position himself in front of Jordan.

“ So ,buddy , this is your last chance to get out of this without a scratch!”

He crossed his arms behind his back once more while looking down at the kneeling reindeer.

“So tell me the encryption keys for your secure messaging network.”

When Jordan remained silent ,the wolf sighted.

“Strong silent type ? I respect that. But let's see how you fare after we are done with your buddy over there.” , he said calmly while forcing his captive to turn towards the table on his left where the vixen was now standing once more. And the equipment in her paws made Judy shiver.

On the table ,next to the glass box was now a portable gas stove like the ones used for camping.

The vixen was busy adjusting the gas canister below while Frederick had gone completely quiet.

Even from this far away she could see that he was shivering like mad. And surely enough the vixen grabbed the glass box and proceeded to place it on top of the stove before looking towards the wolf expectantly.  
Said wolf was using Jordan's antlers to force him to look at the scene before him.

“Take a good look.”

Agent Wilde seemed to take this as her signal and started up the stove while removing the seal on the box.

The effects where immediate as Frederick jumped in fear before starting to beg for his life.

“Please, I apologize , anything but this !” , he wailed, but the flames did not stop and Frederick started jumping from one paw onto the other as the temperature of the glass surface beneath was raising rapidly. The wolf chided in lowering his muzzle towards Jordan's ear, “ come on you can save him all you have to do is tell me what I want to know.”

At this point Frederick began screaming in pain as his paws were being burned by the hot surface of the glass box but he was still frantically jumping around his small prison. Judy felt sick.

And she closed her eyes as she could no longer endure to look at the scene before her.

That did not stop her from hearing the panicked screams of her companion or the sobs she could now hear from Jordan. She had no idea how long she just listened to those screams and the crying, the countless statements about how by just divulging the information needed Jordan would be able to end this immediately. But after a while the screams were less audible and then just stopped altogether however that did not really help her state of mind as there was that scent hanging in the room. That scent of fried mammal. That scent that made her stomach turn. And after a few moments she threw up. The gag however stopped her stomachs contents from leaving her mouth and therefore they remained there. Causing her to throw up once more this time it also got up her nose.

And it was her vomit which deprived her of one very important thing.

Oxygen, she was not able to breathe. She gagged she tried to swallow only to throw up once more. And she panicked. But then realization dawned on her as she slowly faded into darkness. This might be better than anything else she might experience during her time here.

The last thing she heard before her mind faded into darkness were the panicked words of the vixen and the wolf.

“Look the rabbit is suffocating!” ,yelled the vixen.

“Damn we need to get her down from there asap!” ,she heard the wolf.

“We need to....” , and then there was the warm embrace of darkness.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So I want to apologize for 2 things first this is really late. Second I had to split the chapter because as I was writing it I realized how long this is going to be, so yeah sorry.
> 
> So damn this chapter is heavy and I realized writing is hard, I mean this story has the potential to be great (at least in my mind) now just imagine how good it could be if I actually knew what I was doing.
> 
> Thanks for the feedback it feels always good to be appreciated (you hopefully read that in Bellwethers voice haha!)
> 
> That being said back to work I need to get another chapter done ASAP


	6. Visiting the ZIS part 2

 

When Judy woke up once more, despite the situation she was in , she was happy.

While dying had seemed like an ideal option back when she was suffocating.

Now, it seemed like a bad Idea altogether.

Yes, she knew she would suffer and that was bad.

But then again as long as she was still alive she could be saved.

She wondered whether she should open her eyes or not.

So she took stock of her situation as best as she could without moving.

First of all , moving seemed possible and there was no more pressure on her arms, which meant she was no longer suspended in the air by a hook from the ceiling.

And she was missing most of her clothes. These facts were both supported by the cold ceramic tiles she could feel beneath her. Then there was the pressure on her wrists where she was still cuffed. The gag on the other hand was gone. She also noticed that there was a distinct lack of noise in the room except for some panicked breathing close to her and a quiet sob from farther across the room. Both noises that she had gotten far too familiar with over the duration of her stay in this hellhole.

She ignored said noise however at first in favor of continuing to take stock of her senses.

She could still smell her own vomit all over herself , but to her relief to smell of roasted squirrel was mostly gone, however she started to gag once more just thinking about what had happened.

She waited a little while longer for some sounds which would reveal the presence of her tormentor but there was none.

So she took the chance and opened her eyes.

And regretted it immediately.

It might not have been as horrible as the smell of burned squirrel and she had gotten used to seeing badly beat up mammals but this was different , this was one of her friends , her comrades , her family !

What she saw first were of course the bars of the cell she was in, but beyond that was something she would probably never forget.

What was left of Jordan was still in the middle of the room where she had last seen him.

What was left of him anyways.

He was laying there in an awkward position the was a mix of sitting an lying on the ground.

While his mutilated head was pointed towards her making her able to see into his cold dead eyes.

One of the most glaring differences was definitely his antlers which had been broken from his head only to be , and she was only guessing based on the blood covering them , used to beat him to a pulp.

His extremities were all bent in unusual ways. And upon further inspection she could see small cuts as well as deep flesh wounds all over his body. And the odd bone sticking out of his fur where it had apparently pierced his flesh from the inside after being broken.

The most glaring change though was undoubtedly the fact that the lower half of his jaw was completely missing. The wound looked like it had just been ripped of with brute force.

There was an incredible amount of blood covering his throat because of this.

She felt herself getting sick again, she had to turn away.

Her breathing started to get heavy and her heart thumped in her chest as anxiety hit her.

She closed her eyes once more.

Suddenly she felt two big padded paws on her back, before she was pulled into an upright sitting position and then into a hug.

“Don't worry Judy.”, she heard Sam's familiar yet shaky voice, “I got you.”

She enveloped in the familiar scent of her comrade and opened her eyes. And surely enough she laid eyes on Sam's tan colored chest fur.

Sam, a coyote, had been the only predator in their merry little group.

She had never really gotten to know why he joined their cause and for that reason alone it had taken far longer for her to trust him than it had with the others, but she was glad he was there for her now.

Glad that she had someone to comfort her, someone she could trust completely.

Someone that , she knew , needed just as much comfort from her as she did from him.

And there she was hugging her friend as tightly as possible.

Pushing herself into the predators scruffy fur. Something that was pretty ironic given the circumstances of the world they both lived. But they were united by the cause, and she knew that to him she was no food, but a precious friend just like all the other members of their team.

She knew that as long as he could he would always protect her. That was what he had promised them when he joined their cause all those years ago. That he would protect them from the wrongs that his own kind were doing to prey.

She felt a little bit safer.

So naturally she did what any mammal probably would have done in her situation, and started to cry.

It felt so liberating, so natural to her and Sam just continued to slowly stroke her back while holding her.

She cried till there were no tears left.

And they still held onto each other. There were no words needed , both knew that.

However Judy choose to break the silence even though her voice was coarse from all the crying, “What happened ?”

She did not ask because she wanted to know. Or because she could not at least guess what had happened. But because she needed to know.

Because she needed to know what had happened while she had been out cold.

He sighted heavily and being still pressed against his chest she could not only hear but also feel it.

“They hurt Jordan pretty bad. At some point he tried lying to them and give them false encryption keys but they somehow always knew that he was lying and punished him for doing it. Until..”

She could feel his breathing grow ragged while he was whimpering. He swallowed hard.

“...until they just flat out murdered him.” , now it was his turn to cry.

He was resting his muzzle between her ears and she could feel the top of her head getting damp.

She had no idea how long he was crying , but just as he had comforted her she tried to comfort him.

This proved difficult however as her cuffs prevented her from hugging the larger predator.

So she opted for stroking his side with both paws instead.

After what seemed like a small eternity he lifted his head and cleared his throat.

“And then they put Rob in some kind of pool full of weird fish and the made me watch as they...they..well.. burrowed into him and...”, to her surprise he let go of her only to bend over to the side and throw up.

“So is Rob still alive or ?” ,she asked.

He wiped his maw with his right arm before leaning back against one of the cell's walls.

“ Yes can't you hear him he is still crying I believe.”

She had to take a look. But in order to do so she would have to turn around. Which meant looking in the direction of Jordan's corpse once more. She took a deep breath and did it while trying not to look at the dead reindeer. She failed miserably but she also saw Robert. The old boar seemed to held up by a rope just like she had been before she passed out , only difference being that half of his naked body was inside a pool full of water. His back was turned towards her. But surely enough she could still hear him quietly sob. It was an eerie sound to her. The old boar had never been known to show any emotion at all. He was a battle hardened Veteran , one of the oldest members of the entire movement. He was what all younger members aspired to be. To them the grizzled old boar was a hero , after having fought for as long as he had.

Seeing him defeated like that however just seemed wrong.

She did not have much time to contemplate this matter however as she once more heard the sound of a door being opened.

Fear let her fur stand on end and made her heart try to escape from her chest once more.

And surely enough the black fur of the enormous wolf came into view as he made his way over to Robert. His attire however showed signs of what had happened while she happened to be out cold.

There were blood stains all over his clothes and it made him only more terrifying.

When he was standing right behind Rob he asked in his usual calm tone: “So , willing to talk now ?”

There was no answer.

So he gave an order:” Ramirez , get over here!”

One of the wolves she had seen before hurried to the lead wolfs side as soon as the order was given.

As he reached his side the bigger wolf immediately reached for the smaller wolfs pistol, cocked it and fired one bullet into the back of Roberts head.

Judy gasped, but not much more, she felt empty. At this point seeing someone so close to her get shot seemed merciful rather than cruel.

That did not mean she was not sad , no. But there were no tears left for her to shed.

The black wolf turned around and looked at them, before moving towards the cell, Agent Wilde not too far behind him.

And while Judy was still shell shocked the wolf opened the cell's door, grabbed Sam by the throat and hurled him on his hindpaws.

“So I am pressed for time and I got one question, and you are going to answer it! If there was an attack on government facilities in Deerbrook County who would coordinate that and where from ?”

She looked up, perplexed by the sudden change in tone, only to see Sam spit into the the wolfs face.

And just as fast as the coyote had spit in his face the wolf moved his gun towards the offending mammals tight and pulled the trigger.

Sam gave a pained whine as he collapsed to the ground while the wolf used his now free left paw to wipe the spit of his muzzle.

“Look that bullet went right through your leg. With a bit of therapy you might be able to walk again. So I am asking once more, who would coordinate such an attack and from which location would they do it?”

Judy was frozen in place, she was so close yet she knew that there was no way she could help him.

Sam seemed fine however as he pushed himself into a sitting position the expression on his muzzle still an defiant grin. “ You would kill me even if I told you , so go fuck yourself.”

The wolf took aim once more , this time the shot went into the coyotes hip causing him to yelp in pain.

“Okay, being shot in the upper leg is one thing. You might have been able to walk again since the bullet went right through the muscle and tissue. Now after being shot in the hip however there should be permanent damage to your bones, making walking upright forever impossible.” ,he paused for a moment before continuing, “ if you want to have a chance at leaving this place alive you might want to give me a name and a location , now !”

Sam's expression was no longer defiant like it had been before. It was a pained one that did not fit him at all. But that did not stop him from retaliating one more time : “I'd rather die than help out a worthless piece of shit lik..” , the gunshot that painted the wall red with the insides of Sam's head cut his sentence short.

Judy had felt empty and sort of she still was, it certainly took her a moment to realize what had just happened. Her last teammate was dead , just like that she was alone.

Alone in some unknown place. Alone with those monsters.

“Agent Wilde string her up we will deal with her later.”,she saw the wolves leaving and the fox coming closer, yet the words that had been spoken had no real meaning to her. But just as the vixen was grabbing her by the scruff of her neck to drag her away ,the emptiness was slowly replaced by anger.

Anger that gave her strength.

She wouldn't let this be the end of her, she couldn't.

She had to be strong like her comrades, maybe even stronger.

And this was most definitely her best shot at getting free. After all she was alone with the vixen.

So readied herself and used her powerful legs to kick the vixens side throwing her off balance and using the momentum from her attack to do a roll backwards once the vixen had lost her grip on her ,Judy managed to break free. But she was not finished yet. Once more she relied on the powerful legs nature thankfully had provided her with and propelled herself forward, headbutting the vixen's stomach. This made her groan and sink to her knees momentarily. Judy used this chance to make a run for the door. In hindsight this was a totally stupid move. But she knew she would probably not be able to beat an ZIS agent even after getting those few hits in before. 

She was facing a well trained predator after all. 

The reason why trying to run had been a totally idiotic idea though was not because she was too slow or because she was not able to beat a trained predator in her current condition while being pawcuffed. No it was the fact that the door she tried to leave through, naturally, was secured by a lock. Meaning that there was no way for her to get out without knowing the right combination for the electric key pad that stopped her from opening her only way to freedom. 

Just as realization washed over her , she could her her adversary breathe heavily behind her. 

She turned around and tried to rush past the vixen. 

But a well placed strike against the side of her head made her fall to the ground. 

It had been a strong hit, which caused her to be slightly disoriented when for a short moment and she could feel blood running down her cheek where the vixen's claws had hit her. 

But then everything came back into focus as she was now gripped by her throat and held away at arms length. Since foxes had longer extremities than rabbits she knew that she would not be able to get another kick in. The vixen took a few steps through the room and pushed her onto one of the tables. Judy tried to squirm her way out of agent Wilde's grip but the predator was just too strong. And with a few well practiced moves the vixen managed to restrain Judy's legs with a cable tie from one of her pockets.

Before grabbing her once more by the neck and bringing her over towards a corner of the room she had not been able to see from her former position near and in the cell. Before her were two concrete blocks one of which she was immediately placed on. But the scary thing were not the concrete blocks but rather the two metal nooses above them ,one of which was currently being secured tightly around her neck by her tormentor. She knew that at this point struggling would probably only make her situation worse so she refrained from doing so. The vixen then reached for a remote hanging from the wall once the noose was secured around Judy's neck. 

And with the push of a button Judy could feel herself being lifted slightly upwards. 

Just enough so she would have to stand on her toes in order for her to not be suffocated by the metal wire.

She would be able to endure this. 

She would be saved.

 

 

**In the present**

 

She felt tired. She could feel her strength leaving her rapidly.

She almost wished for the wolf or agent Wilde to return and put an end to it already. Almost.

And then suddenly she could hear gunfire. It was faint but it was there. And just as her mind seemed to get the memo that gunfire meant that someone was attacking the facility she was kept in there was an explosion. And the door she had tried to escape through earlier was knocked out of its hinges and fell on the floor with a loud thud and a crack as metal hit ceramics. The sudden sound of the explosion made her loose her footing which in turn made the metal wire cut into her neck and strangle her. She struggled to get her paws back onto the concrete block , but she was not able to.

With her eyes towards the ceiling and her hindpaws kicking air she did not notice the approaching mammals till she felt two strong arms around her waist pulling her upwards and thus easing the pressure of the noose on her throat. For a moment she thought she had just died and this was all a dream. But surely enough there in front of her were her comrades. They had come to save her. Roger , the deer that was holding her used one of his hooves to slowly remove the noose from her neck before putting her down. She was still in a daze when her commanding officer came towards her. She was sure that never before in her life ,she had been so happy to see this particular jack rabbit up until now.

“Sorry we are late Judy.”, Jack said with his smooth accent before adding,“damn you look like hell.”

And then and there all she could feel was relief and despite that, the only thing she could do was hug the buck in front of her and cry.

Partly because she was still sad and partly because she was so happy to finally be safe again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note:
> 
> So I made another one. And it made me realize this story is going to be long and complicated ! What have I gotten myself into ?
> 
> So question time: We could be going back to Runa and Liska directly in the next chapter, or I could throw in some quality time with Nick. So which one do you prefer ?
> 
> As always feedback is appreciated , I realized that writers (or at least me) feel really happy if people take the time to comment on a story.


	7. Warm and cozy cruiser

**A little bit earlier in Zootopia**

Being a cop wasn't always as fulfilling as in those moments where you crack a big case or get to chase a bad guy. No there were moments when being a cop sucked a lot, like when you get a double shift because another officer got sick. Like when you get assigned to patrol the most boring block in existence ,probably, at night. Nick knew all this and ever since he had become a police officer in order to help other mammals he has had his fair share of boring duties. Like the mandatory newbie hazing at the beginning of each career in the precinct where one would get assigned to parking duty for a full month. He had been a little angry with himself that he had only found out that it was a test after an entire week had passed. But it had changed his way of thinking significantly.

Ever since he knew that in this line of work there would be tasks that would be boring but to him those times where all tests. Not because they actually were ,he knew that perfectly well, but because to him they were. They were testing his patience and his love for his work. And the reward would be that if something great happened after enduring them , well , victory would taste all the sweeter.

So there he was sitting in his cruiser together with his partner listening to the radio because almost no mammal in this neighborhood strayed out onto the streets at this hour. "The first responders on the scene are still determining the cause of the fire and have yet to comment on the situation. However due to the fact that two separate buildings were on fire and since multiple bodies where found, which most likely belonged to the security forces that were guarding the farm. It is not entirely unlikely that this was another unreasonable attack on our way of life performed by the Free Prey Movement. What do you think Brant ?"

At this moment Wolford decided to turn off the radio. "Damn they don't even know what happened yet and they already blame the FPM ? And how do they know anything if the first responders have yet to make a comment ? Seems fishy to me."

His words made sense to Nick however he also knew that journalists where a crafty bunch, so he would not be surprised if some journalist had found a first responder willing to make some money on the side. "Well Frank , you are right however who else would burn down an entire farm ? I mean the FPM has done similar things in the past, even if this is the first time they have chosen a target this big. So that's the story the media goes with, simple as that. "

Wolford gave a heavy sigh, "yeah, it is just that I wish the media would finally understand that them jumping to conclusions and leaking infos is bad for our work and might cause an unnecessary panic, which would mean even more work for us."

Nick knew where he was coming from ,every time the FPM pulled a major stunt like this there was bound to be chaos in the media an thus the population of the entire country. This time would probably be extraordinarily bad since ,if the media was to be believed, many mammals had died and a valuable food source for Deerbroke County had been lost.

"I feel you partner, the last time something like this happened we got the prey curfew from the brilliant minds at city hall.", he wanted to go on and take a jab at Zootopia's politicians but his partner cut him off, "speaking of which look over there !"

Nick turned his head and surely enough there was a cape buffalo walking down the prey side of the street. But it took only a moment for Nick to realize that the buffalo in question happened to be Mason Bogo , ergo the same buffalo he had tried to arrest two weeks before in a similar situation.

"Don't bother he has got a permit.", he replied dryly.

"Really ?" ,Wolford asked, annoyed by the situation ,"the only mammal we see the entire night is someone you know ?"

Nick gave him a smug grin: "Well you know that I know everyone." Wolford gave him a look that spelled 'really' on his face in big annoyed rainbow letters clear for every mammal to see so Nick continued, " but yeah picked that one up myself about two weeks ago when you had that day off with your wife, because I had no idea either back then."

That seemed to pacify his partner, " So what kind of permit does a cape buffalo get around here in order to roam the streets at night after curfew ?"

Nick was happy that they finally had something to talk about on this slowest of nights, so he was happy to answer: " Well apparently he works as a bouncer in a nightclub downtown."

Wolford seemed surprised by that so Nick just continued,"we called the owner to check if his story checked out and a few years ago the club supposedly was on the verge of bankruptcy and since hiring prey is much cheaper than hiring similar predators, the owner thought he could cut costs by hiring several mammals of the prey category. So when the curfew was enacted he had already grown fond of his staff so he went and got them permits to stay out past the curfew on workdays."

A grin creept onto Wolfords muzzle. "I think I know which club you are talking about that big place a few blocks down the road right ? What was its name again , Fever Dream ?"

Now it was Nick's turn to smirk, "Fever Dance ,but close enough grandpa."

To which Wolford remarked, "hey, I am only twelve years older than you and I want to see you remember the name of every god damn club in town when you are my age and mated."

With a glance at the clock Nick replied with a smug grin , "Well buddy, knowing so much more than you is not just a benefit of my youth but rather of my gracious intellect."

Wolford rolled his eyes ," can your gracious intellect help me find a way to shut you up ?"

"No , it informed me however that our shift is almost over and we should be heading back to the precinct."

Wolford stretched his arms and legs, " good news at last! Hanging out with you in small doses is okay but a double shift like this makes me wanna drown myself in alcohol. Let's go! " ,he replied cheerily.

Nick knew that his partner's verbal jab was not serious. Nevertheless he could not let the opportunity pass to make a melodramatic statement while Wolford started the cruiser.

"Is that so ? And here I was thinking we were partners because you liked me. You know now I feel like an idiot. I trusted you !" , he could see Wolford was trying to fight the smile that crept onto his muzzle. "Because I thought you trusted me ! I thought we could rely on each other!" There was the smile he wanted, now all he needed to do was take this to a ridiculous conclusion and he would be golden.

" I feel so cheap now that I know your real feelings. I thought you LOVED me Frank ! I thought we were going to run away together. "Upon hearing that Wolford burst into laughter, but Nick was not finished yet.

" What am I going to tell our children when they ask me where daddy is ?"

Wolford continued laughing for a while before he asked ,still out of breath : " If you are the mommy. Aren't our children going to die of starvation ?"

Nick proceeded to cross his arms in front of his chest , close his eyes and raise his muzzle in a fake pout , " how dare you, I would be a a great mom. And I will have you know that I posses a microwave."

This time they both burst into laughter before heading of towards the precinct where they finished their shift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> As requested by popularity vote:Here is my Nick, Police Officer Nick who never got bullied by prey because they would not dare to do so in this AU.
> 
> So here is a small update because I am anxious for my final oral exam tomorrow and writing a little bit took my mind off this matter.
> 
> I will see how this continues tomorrow an whether this is all we see from nick for now or whether there is more to come in the next chapter.
> 
> I hope I got the dialog right.


	8. Nosy little Rabbit

 

 

Runa woke up when she heard a car door snap shut, only to find herself in Liska's arms once more and as he carried her off somewhere she could hear him talk quietly with another mammal.

“Alright you know the drill , clean it and torch it. Give my regards to chief Snarlov.”

Still sleepy after having woken up just seconds ago she turned her head ,in order to see the other mammal better. Only to see a flash of blue before the mammal in question disappeared into the truck. So she made the decision to take in her surroundings.

It was still a bit dark even though the street in front of them was lined with streetlights. It was unnaturally warm and dusty all around. Far too warm for her taste, nights where supposed to be colder than the day not warmer. She also noted that she was now in a city. A mythical place only seen before on television or read about in books. If anything these big empty streets which were surrounded by rows upon rows of big houses made the young country bunny feel tiny and insignificant.

Yet strangely she was not afraid, after all she was not alone.

Just then they seemed to reach their destination , a car.

Upon further inspection it seemed to be a black SUV with tinted windows sized for perfectly for a fox. “So are you awake or do I need to strap you in myself ?” came the question from above while Liska cradled her with one arm while using the other to fish for the car keys in his pocket.

This brought a little more life into her ,“yes I am awake I can do it myself.”

Once the words were spoken Liska set her down onto the sidewalk carefully while pressing the car key to open the car. The ground below her was made from stone slabs and felt unnaturally warm even for a summer night. Liska opened the passenger side door for her and gestured for her to jump in with a weak smile. She was impressed to notice that he seemed to be really tired.

It was not just the fact that he seemed to move in something akin to autopilot, but he also talked considerably less on his own. She on the other hand was brimming with energy after sleeping for a few hours on the way here. So with close to no effort she jumped up into the seat and while she was securing her seat belt Liska was already on his way over to the driver side of the car.

Once he had sat down and closed the door he gave a sigh.

“So this store that sells rabbit clothes is up in the Meadowlands. At this time of day with so few traffic we can get there in about 30 minutes. And since it opens up at nine, that leaves us with about three hours of time before we can buy clothes.”, he paused for a moment, “ However we are in luck since you are going to need more than just clothes, so we can kill some time by buying other things. There should be a drugstore for prey somewhere around there and those usually open at eight. Thus we should be able to waste an hour there till the other shop opens, which leaves us with about two hours to spare.”,he started up the engine, “alright let's get this over with.”

And so they embarked on their way towards the Meadowlands.

Runa was conflicted, she actually wanted to ask lots and lots of questions.

However since she knew that Liska was very tired she was worried that she might make him angry by being too nosy. After contemplating this dilemma in her head for a full two minutes though curiosity stood victorious over caution and she began to ask her questions.

“So you said that in the city there would be a set of rules I would have to follow.

What kind of rules?”

Liska gave a slight nod before answering, “laws, not rules but I guess that difference does not really matter.”

They stopped in front of a red light and Runa was once more amazed how big the city was, even though it was this early there were many many mammals driving around in cars. They were mostly predators though. “There is a curfew you have to know about. This means unless you have a permit, which I will get for you so you have one if needed, you as a prey mammal are not allowed out on the streets from ten pm till six am.” This confused Runa. Not even on the Farm were they forced to stay inside the burrow at certain times of the day. Yes, they were not allowed to leave the Farm at any time, but that was because they were Farm mammals. She had always read and heard that city mammals had far more freedom than Farm mammals, even as prey. So she could not help but ask, “why is that ? I though city prey was free ?”

Liska chuckled, “well you have the FPM to thank for that. A few years ago their attacks were a lot more frequent. And in order to combat them the government decided to enact a curfew for prey to make it harder for prey mammals to meet up or commit crimes in the cover of the night.”

That made sense to Runa if prey were attacking the city they would probably do it like in the spy movies she had seen on TV. They would use the darkness of the night in order to scout things out and commit crimes while other mammals were sleeping. Liska just chuckled once more, “yeah that did not really work out though.”

This confused Runa ,” didn't you say that they used to attack a lot more frequently ? So If they don't anymore doesn't that mean the curfew works ?”

He sighted ,” no it is not the curfew that is responsible for that. Unlike popular belief would suggest the FPM has very limited resources when it comes to mammalpower. They were loosing a lot of field operatives back then so they probably decided to go for quality over quantity after a while.”

That still did not satisfy her, “ but that does not mean the curfew is useless.”

Liska had a smirk on his muzzle now, “ yes it does, actually it helps the FPM.”

Once more that did not make sense to Runa at all, “ wait , why , how ?”, she asked eagerly.

“Well the FPM is very crafty and resourceful when it comes to blending in. That is why they are still around after all these years. And since the only thing you need is a permit and a predator backing your story , once you have both you can do anything at night while looking suspicious. But when you get questioned the permit will give you a free pass. Since those are usually hard to come by.”

That made it sound like those permits were pretty amazing , not to mention the fact that she was supposed to get one as well. She now had another question on the matter however , “ if that is so why is there still a curfew?”

The smirk on Liska's muzzle only grew wider, “because the average population consists manly of idiots. They believe that the curfew is protecting them and as long as they do, it calms them down. A calm population is exactly what the government needs in a situation like this and so to them the curfew is a success.”

Runa blushed a little, after all she had just vigorously displayed what the curfew was meant to accomplish.

Liska seemed to notice and continued, “another thing you have to be aware of is segregation. As you might have noticed the sidewalks are always split into two halves with a 10 centimeters wide white line between them. One side is always darker, that is the prey side. As prey you have to walk on that side. Same applies to stores , there are ones only for prey and ones only for predators.”

That seemed like a problem to Runa when thinking about living with a predator from now on.

“So we can't walk together on the sidewall or go into the same stores together ?”

Liska slightly shook his head “of course we can stay together. It is just meant to separate prey from preds for their own good . It is only mandatory for prey. So predators could technically walk on the prey side of the sidewalk. But that is heavily frowned upon and the police will question you why if they see it.”

This made Runa curious, “How is it good for prey to be separated from predators like that ? Why would there be any problems if they were together ?”

Liska gave a little nod before answering: “ Good question. Prey are separated from predators because it would put them in danger if they were not separated from them.”

This answer confused Runa and Liska seemed to notice so he provided some context for her.

“When the FPM started terrorizing the population with threats and attacks there were some preds who thought that all prey were dangerous. And as I said the general population consists mainly of idiots. So what happens when idiots feel threatened ?”

The sudden question caught Runa of guard but true to form she blurted out and answer regardless.

“They lash out ?”

When he heard her answer Liska smiled and continued explaining: “Exactly, so when they saw prey in the streets some predators attacked them if they though them to be suspicious. Others decided that prey were all savages who are out to disrupt our wonderful society and as such have no right to be alive. And so a new 'sport' was created. In the way some gangs were already dealing their rivals, mammals started to stab prey while brushing past them on the street. That became a problem and we got new sidewalks.”

This seemed false to Runa. If predators could walk on the prey side whenever they wanted how would this stop attacks like the ones Liska mentioned from happening ?

So she just asked the mammal she now assumed could answer any question she could ever ask.

“But if predators like you can come to our side how is it supposed to stop attacks like those ?”

“Another good question.”, Liska remarked , “ You see just by separating both parties they made attacks like these harder to miss. Back in the days brushing a prey mammal without seeming suspicious was easy and the perp was gone long before anyone knew what had exactly happened.”, he paused for a moment. And she noticed that they had entered a tunnel. “Nowadays though everyone would notice that one predator walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk. After all which predator would willingly lower himself to walk besides prey ? And so they would be able to report it to the police afterwords since they would remember the perp. And so the attacks stopped.”

He had barely finished his sentence when she already shot another question at him : “ Then how does that lead into separated shops ?”

He actually laughed and she wondered what she had said that was so funny.

“No those were always around there is no law for specifically separating shops. That is just a convenience thing. Since catering to predators or prey is usually pretty different. It is just like shops for different species, having a shop for every species is just too big of a logistics problem so almost nobody does it.”

She understood it was just like growing different crops on the farm they all had different needs and as such needed different forms of care. “So there won't be any problems if you go into a prey store ?” ,she asked a bit scared that she might cause problems for him this early on.

“Na, if I was sending you into a pred store then we would have to worry. But since it is prey we are talking about, that means they could only throw me out if I was actually harassing them and they have proof that I did. And since I have no intend of doing so we sho...”

Just as Liska in the middle of his sentence they exited the tunnel and Runa could not help but marvel the scenery that was suddenly laid out before her eyes. “Woah!”, was all her brain came up with.

In front of them were tall skyscrapers as far as the eye could see that seemed to grow endlessly into the sky. But that was not the only thing that had her awestruck like that, no. In the twilight of dawn one could still see thousands upon thousands of lights in different colors, intensities and sizes that were spread among these tall buildings making them seem almost magical to the young rabbit.

It was Liskas voice that snapped her out of her trance ,” this is the district where you are going to live from now on and trust me once you are on top of one of these buildings it is going to look even better.”

Like always her mouth was faster than her brain, “Really ? Can you show me ?”

Once more Liska was smirking, “don't worry I will show you , alright ?”

“Yay!”, came her happy response.

And all caution was blown to the wind as she asked the question that had been on her mind for a while now: “You don't seem like you think prey is bad, why is that ?”

It took a moment before Liska replied, a moment in which her heart almost stopped in sheer terror from his lack of reaction. “I don't necessarily think worse of prey than I think of predators.”, upon his answer she let out a breath she had almost forgotten she was holding. “All I care about is whether I can trust a mammal or not.” ,he paused and actually looked away from the road for a moment to seek out her eyes with his own before continuing , “Do you understand that ?”

It was not so much a question as it was a demand and she knew that. And while she did not really understand the why it made sense to her it did. As long as you know you can trust a mammal it does not matter which kind of mammal it is. It was an easy concept. Relieved by his answer she gave hers with renewed vigor , “yes , sir !”

And the thought crossed her head that staying with a predator might not be as bad as she thought it would.

As long as that predator was Liska.

And so they made their way into the Meadowlands and because they where far too early to go anywhere Liska decided to take a nap in the car. He gave her instructions to wake him up at eight and told her to listen to the radio in the meantime.

But it wasn't the radio that kept her entertained it was the buzzing district around them.

And while she was gazing upon the district that seemed the most like home, she thought that this was her chance. This was a whole new world where she could start again.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> Guess who read articles about segregation in order to steal ideas for my city ?
> 
> And is it just me or did the last chapter not count as an update for some obscure reason ?
> 
> And I made a cover Image over on FF.net that has nothing to do with the story. But I can't draw so Photography was all I had left. Maybe someday one of these mythical artists that this fandom is so proud of will take notice of this story and help me out. Na that'll never happen.
> 
> And once more I delayed something I wanted to get done about 3 chapters ago. But I feel like the flow of the story is better like this. And I got some questions answered Runa definitely had to ask in her situation. But next chapter we will go shopping.


	9. Venture to the Market

Starting again had to wait though. And that was the hardest part really.

It was not like she did not understand that Liska needed sleep but even though the waking city around her was new and exiting. Being locked up in a car with literally nothing to do except listening to the radio was starting to get painfully boring.

But she wanted to be a good rabbit.

She wanted to live up to her promise.

A good rabbit could wait.

So she would wait.

The time seemed to tick away slower than usual and she started questioning the accuracy of the SUV's internal clock.

What if it was mocking her ?

Maybe it was deliberately slowing down?

If the windows weren't tinted many onlookers would have probably wondered about the young rabbit that looked like it was ready to pounce the little monitor in front of her.

But luckily they were so no one saw how intently Runa was watching the time slowly tick by.

Occasionally there would be a song on the radio that she really liked and she would be distracted from her staring contest with the lifeless object and quietly hum along.

When the clock finally reached 8:00 , she almost leaped towards Liska.

However she realized how that might be inappropriate given that he was basically her owner.

So she opted to call his name in rising volume till he woke up.

“Liska ? - Liska !”

Calling his name two times did the trick and he woke up with a yawn that showed of all his deadly teeth, far too close for comfort.

For a moment she was almost frozen in place all she could think was predator with her ears glued behind her head, nose twitching while Liska shook his head in an obvious attempt to fully wake up. But then she remembered, she had slept next to this 'predator' and while Liska had proven to just as dangerous as she imagined predators to be when angry, he had also been showing her kindness ever since she vowed to stay by his side.

So she relaxed a little before Liska started the conversation, “damn, I really needed that.”

He turned his head to face her, he looked really relaxed, “it wasn't too boring in here was it ?”

Of course it was boring. Waiting had been almost physically painful, but she had decided to be a good rabbit and as such she should have been able to wait without problem.

And since she had decided this was the way to go she knew what to say next:

“No, I had the radio and there were so many mammals outside that I could watch, so it never really got boring.”

Liska's face seamed to say 'really ?', but he just went with it, “alright before we get the shopping done you have to remove your collar.”

Dread washed over her, she was not allowed to remove her collar outside of her own room.

She felt a sting in her heart, her room, the one that was gone together with her home and her family.

She shook her head a little in order to get rid of the bad thoughts. But that did not really help her at all.

And her thoughts strayed towards her dead siblings, her nieces and nephews. And while she was sinking deeper and deeper into despair she suddenly felt a big paw under her chin.

And she felt a gentle pressure forcing her to look upwards , “look at me.“

Liska's voice was calm and she found comfort in that. When her eyes met his she could see concern in them.

And she could feel his paw leaving it's place under her chin as it moved over cheek and towards her ears smoothing them over her back in a stroking motion.

“Everything is going to be alright. Okay ?”

He waited for her reply but all she did was relax into his touch as she closed her eyes.

“Don't worry I will remove it for you. Remember you are mine , that means only what I say matters. That means you don't have to be afraid of anyone else. So don't be scared.”

She could feel his paw leave her ears and move towards her throat where her identification collar was tightly secured around her neck.

It only took him a few seconds to remove it.

And once he had taken it off she felt, dread.

Despite his words she felt scared, she felt naked.

All rabbits had collars and the only places were they were allowed to take them off was in the shower or in their own rooms.

Outside of those they always had to wear them.

Which was made her feel so unsafe.

No collar meant no identity.

No collar meant punishment.

No collar meant an early death.

She did not want to die.

Runa could feel her fear paralyze her, she could feel her breathing starting to get out of control.

But once more she could feel Liska's paws on her shoulders and hear his voice “Deep breaths Runa. Deep breaths.”

So she focused on her breathing and that really helped.

“Relax, when we get back into the car you can put it back on, okay ?”

She just nodded and continued taking deep breaths.

Yes that would be okay. She would just take it off to go into the supermarket and put it back on afterwords. This was another exception.

They waited a little while longer until Runa had calmed down and was back to her former self.

Ready to take on this new world.

And so they left the car and made their way over the parking lot towards a big gray building with shiny blue letters plastered over a big glass entrance , which read 'PreyMart'.

Just as they reached the entrance Liska commented with a smirk, “this is going to be interesting.” So Runa could not help but ask, “why ?”

“Well”, Liska said as they walked through the automated glass doors, revealing the interior of the market to them, “ I never had the chance to see one of these from the inside.”

The inside of the market was nothing to scoff at. Behind the cash registers there were rows upon rows of shelves in different sizes. To her it almost looked like the new warehouse back home just far more colorful. She felt another sting upon thinking that. But before the bad thoughts could take root she shook them off. Her surrounding were distracting enough to make it possible.

Liska meanwhile had started scanning the aisles before them before bounding towards the right while saying , “come on small sized mammals are over there.”

She followed closely behind Liska while he made his way towards a section of the market that seemed to fit their size better. It was now that Runa realized just how out of place he was.

Not because he looked out of place but because of the way the employes and other early birds looked at him. And soon she realized they were also looking at her. Their looks towards Liska were somewhat fearful even though he was only sporting his casual clothes without his equipment. While the looks she was getting were, well, pitiful.

And something about that bothered her.

She couldn't explain why it did.

But it definitely did.

And while she was pondering they reached one of the aisles and went in.

Her surroundings changed drastically.

There were all sorts of colorful items all around. This section of the market seemed to be for mammals about her size and sported lots of items necessary for maintaining once fur and teeth.

Back on the Farm they only ever had one sort of shampoo and one kind of toothpaste. Here however she could not help but marvel the sheer amount of products available. There were so many different products that it seemed overwhelming to her.

How was she supposed to find the right ones ?

So she turned to Liska who was eying her from the side with a smile.

Once she had turned however he seemed to realize her problem and offered his help, “need help ?”

She gave a nod before saying, “emm, yeah, I have no idea what I need to pick.”

Liska's smile grew bigger , “well which items did you use back on the Farm? “

She made a short list of things in her mind before answering: “ I used a shampoo, toothpaste, a shed comb and a chewing dowel.”

Liska looked confused for a moment before he seemed to realize something but he did not speak.

So she did, “is something wrong ?”

With a surprised look he answered, “no of course not , I just tend to forget that most of you prey mammals are hypsodonts.”

“Hypsowhat ?”, she asked in confusion.

“Hypsodonts”, he said like it was so obvious, “mammals with high-crowned teeth that never stop growing.”

She could see in his eyes that he could see just how confused she still was.

And so he ended the conversation there, “don't worry I was just thinking why the dowel let's just buy those things shall we ?”

Runa gave a nod before turning back towards the items before her.

After a while she still had no idea which things to take and cried out in frustration:

“I still don't know what to take there are just so many different things here!”

Liska proceeded to grab a bottle of shampoo, “well this one is pink and has a rabbit on it so let's take this one ?”

She nodded and he grabbed another bottle before turning around and simply grabbing a pack containing a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Meanwhile Runa spotted several fur brushes a little bit further into the aisle and moved towards them.

Picking a fur brush was really easy as most models just about looked the same and she just grabbed one that looked like the ones she had used to groom her fur back on the Farm.

When she turned back to to Liska she saw him holding the shampoo bottles in one paw and two packs in the other one contained the toothbrush but she had no idea what was in the other.

“Alright”, he said ,” I got the dowels as well do you need anything else ?”

She though about the question for a moment before replying, “can we buy a book ?”

It was a selfish question she knew but she also knew that being able to read a book would most likely calm her down and be a good way to kill time in the near future.

But despite her selfish question Liska gave her a smile ,”sure, I think I saw some books near the cash registers.”

After saying this he turned around and moved back towards the cash registers while Runa happily followed him. She had fully expected to be denied. But then again Liska had been nothing but nice to her till now.

So why was she expecting him to be mean ?

He had proven not to be anything like the Farms guards.

Surely enough the reached the front of the store and there were a few stands with different stuff in different sizes , from small things like batteries to the books she so desired.

With a few hops she was standing at a small stand with books that were about right for a mammal her size. There were just a few books to choose from, but to Runa that did not matter. As her eyes immediately zeroed in on a book with the name 'Threefold'. It seemed to be a spy thriller and the cover was covered in flames. If she took any book it would be this one. So she grabbed it and presented it to Liska who had just arrived next to her, “I want this one. “ ,she said with all the happiness of a little kit choosing a toy.

Liska nodded, “alright then let's get going.”

They moved over to the cash registers where Liska paid for the items they had chosen, not without being eyed somewhat rudely by the cashier. But Liska did not seem to care and just gave the deer in question a polite smile. And so they left the market.

However once they did Runa felt her anxiety come back. The absence of her collar still made her feel vulnerable and so she almost had another panic attack on their way towards the car.

Liska noticed this and unlocked the car from a distance and she quickly made her way over to the car. Once she was back in she grabbed the collar and instantly put it back on.

The effects were immediate , she felt safer and calmer.

When Liska entered the car he sighted ,” we really need to work on that collar thing.”

This made Runa give an involuntary squeak at the thought of having to take of the collar more often.

Liska closed the door and leaned back in his seat, “so we still got some time left. Do you want to just wait it out or do you want to go eat something ?”

She was just about to answer when he added , “going somewhere to eat would mean taking of your collar though.”

“NO!”, came her almost desperate answer followed by a more timid, “I mean let's just wait here.”

Liska had a knowing smile on his muzzle , “alright then, waiting it is.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT:
> 
> I am so sorry for this taking so long. I just realized I am really really really really really bad at writing domestic stuff. Which in turn makes me scared of the chapters which are to come in the near future.Damn I could really use some help. But no matter I will try to keep up my release rate regardless. So don't no abandoning this story no matter what.
> 
>  
> 
> Authors notes:
> 
> Before I start ranting about my own failures, I want to thank you Anteroinen for commenting on my story it is stuff like this that makes me happy and keeps me going. So thank you.  
> And I made to 20k words (yay for me) I never thought I could do this!
> 
> Alright as mentioned above I am real bad at writing about domestic stuff, but I do my research ! My recent search histories contain how to groom a rabbit / how to bathe a rabbit / how to care for a rabbit. Did you know that rabbits need to eat at least every 12 hours or their metabolism slows down leading to a potential failure cascade where the rabbit had no appetite whatsoever. Well now you know.
> 
> I such so much at this that I even started training again just to avoid writing this chapter.
> 
> To give a bit of insight, I usually write a chapter then sleep one night over it and then correct/rewrite it and then release it. This chapter however had 5 rewrites and I am still not happy with the results.  
> As always I delay the clothes shopping part to next chapter.


	10. Clothes make Mammals

 

Waiting was much easier when you had a book that you could read.

The book really was a spy thriller and the first chapter was a joy to read.

It was fairly simple, some young leopard agent was spending his 'retirement' from work living in a small village in some faraway country. When suddenly his country needed him once more in order to perform a miraculously difficult mission without the public noticing. He of course agreed being the hero of the story and it went on from there. She had just gotten that far into the story when Liska started up the engine.

“Whats wrong ?”, she ask a little confused.

“Nothing”, Liska said with his normal smile,”I just want to walk less. And this might be a future investment since we need to buy more than one set of clothes and I believe that carrying them down the street and all over the parking lot would be a pain to do.”

With that being said Liska drove them back onto the street and a little bit down the road, where there was another parking lot. This one though was built underground and belowthe store it was connected to. So when they drove into the parking garage Runa felt right at home. It was just that little something about underground housing and rabbits that went paw in paw.

Underground there were some cars already standing around. The garage was definitely designed with smaller mammals in mind. The average wolf would have probably hit his head on the ceiling and an above average wolf wouldn't have enough space to stand straight up.

And that somehow felt reassuring.

Once the car stopped however dread overcame Runa once more.

Leaving the car likely meant taking of her collar once more.

She heard Liska sigh heavily ,” Don't worry, just leave the collar on.”

She just stared at him somewhat surprised but also very grateful.

And he continued, “ this is a clothing store we can just pretend that I just bought you and we need to buy some clothes before you get your papers. Which is actually partly true.”

“Pretend that you bought me ?” , she just had to ask this seemed false to her ,” I thought mammals in the city are free ?”

Liska nodded ,” well yes prey in the city are free but there is a way for wealthy predators to work around that and they frequently do so using adhesion contracts. It'll explain the clothes and the collar.”

This got Runa thinking , “ wait if I was bought could I keep my collar ?”

The mere thought of being forced to take her collar of ,most likely, every time she left the house was unsettling to her to say the least.

Liska seemed to be in deep thought for a moment before answering , “you would be able to.”

He took another moment to think before continuing , “but that would mean we have to fake an entire mountain worth of data for a rabbit that is ,in the system at least, already considered dead. Instead of giving you the new identity I would have provided you with as Runa the city rabbit.”

That was discouraging but she still had hope after all he did not outright deny her.

“ So would you do it ?”, she asked in the sweetest voice she could muster.

Which prompted Liska to sigh once more, “sure, it might be the easiest solution to this problem for me. And it means that we don't really need to go anywhere to get new papers, since we can have the old ones sent to us which is much easier for me. Clara will hate me for it though.”

Him mentioning a name she had not heard before made her curious , “ Who is Clara ?”

A smile found it's way back onto his muzzle as he answered , “oh, don't worry you will meet her soon enough. But before that we need to buy some clothes so let's go.”

With that being said the two of them made their way towards the store.

Once they had entered through a set of stairs in the middle of the garage, the colorful interior revealed itself to them. Much like the other store they had previously visited, this one also astonished the young rabbit with just how much color and variate of things there was. Those really were clothes like they were mentioned in the books she had read, like in the films she had watched.

Clothes like the mammals on the street were wearing them.

But the main difference between the PreyMart and this place was that everything seemed to be the right size for a mammal like her. There were no ridiculously huge shelves.

It just felt right.

They had only taken a few steps when they were stopped by a doe that asked: ”Hello can I help you ?”, she had black fur with white accents all over and seemed to be in her early twenties. She wore a blue polo shirt with some sort of logo on it, which Runa guessed was the store's logo. Next to that logo she also sported a name tag which read Lilly Hopkins.

As always Liska was the one taking charge of the situation , “well miss Hopkins I just bought this young doe over here”, he gestured towards Runa , “ and she is in need of some clothes in order to be able to live in the city with me. So I would be glad if you helped us out.”

The doe frowned upon hearing that Runa was apparently 'bought' but immediately forced a smile once more and answered curtly, “alright then follow me.”

So follow they did while the doe in front of them started asking questions, “ So what kind of clothes can we consider ? “

“Well, she will need casual clothes she can wear around the house and outside on the streets. She will need multiple outfits as she has no clothes whatsoever.”

Once they reached an area where there were cabins for mammals to change in the doe stopped and asked, “so how about the price range ?”

Liska smirked at the question and answered , “whatever you got goes , no limit.”

This surprised both Runa and Lilly. But the shopping assistant recovered quickly and with a quick ”wait here for a moment” , she rushed of to gather some clothes for Runa.

Which left Runa back here with Liska, “So she picks the clothes for me ?”, she asked a little bit surprised.

“Yes, but if you want you can go look yourself.”, he answered.

Runa thought back at her problems to choose a simple shampoo just about an hour ago and was glad she did not have to look for the right clothes herself. Liska seemed to think along the same lines as he added, “and even if you don't look for the clothes yourself you can still choose the ones you like once you actually tried them on.”

And shortly after he had finished his sentence Lilly returned with some clothes in her paws.

She then proceeded to usher Runa towards one of the rooms designed for changing handing her the clothes and helping her to try them on.

Getting out of her Farm jumpsuit felt weird to her. But she was also excited, she never had 'real' clothes before and the mere thought intrigued her. Having ones own clothes was a form of freedom all on it's own. So when she saw herself in the mirror for the first time with an outfit just for her. She felt ecstatic. In the mirror before her was not a young castor rex doe in an orange jumper like always but a beautiful doe in black skinny jeans with a blue crop top wearing a black zipped hoodie with white highlights like the inside of the hood ,the zipper and the rim of the big pockets on the left and right. “Wow”, said Lilly nest to her, “I really envy that fur of yours it goes great with clothes like these.”

And Runa had to agree the clothes really looked great on her.

They continued a while longer sorting through lots of clothes. Liska approved of most clothes the only odd thing happened when she was wearing a plain white summer dress she personally found to be rather charming.

“Do you think I look good in this ?” , asked Runa excitedly.

Liska had a rather neutral impression and tilted his head slightly before answering, “You are asking the wrong mammal here. I really don't like dresses on females.“

This seemed odd to Runa even she found dresses appealing and she was a female. Lilly seemed to harbor similar feelings since she was actually the one to ask, “why is that if I may ask? Dresses are so beautiful I never heard of a male that could not be charmed by an attractive female in a nice dress.”

Liska smiled, “I just don't like them is all. And they seem very unpractical, don't they ? ”,he looked at her and quickly added,”That doesn't mean you can't have one though.” This made Runa feel unsure about the dress though. Not that she was trying to charm Liska or anything of the sort. It was the he was right a dress was rather unpractical. And since she was supposed to work it might not be the right kind of clothing for her. And so the dress was no longer considered and option by the young doe. After sorting through even more clothes their little venture came to an end and Runa was left with a total of four complete outfits.

The first one was the outfit she had first tried on and it was secretly her favorite so she kept it right on. 

The second was a similar outfit with dark blue shorts, a simple white T-shirt and a sleeveless black hoodie with a white zipper and white drawstrings.

The third outfit was a dark pink pencil skirt with a white blouse tucked into it.This particular outfit made her feel like one of those beautiful mammals she had seen on TV so often back on the farm. 

Meanwhile the forth set of clothes consisted of dungarees which ended a little over her waist and a blue white striped shirt which was topped of by a red handkerchief which was tied around her neck , which was the only thing that concerned her about this outfit as it hid her collar which she had not taken of during the entire process of trying on outfits. No matter how much Lilly had begged and tried to persuade her she had flat out refused to do so. 

Additionally they also bought some underwear a few spare pants and a few spare shirts.

Which naturally lead to a very high bill. 

But Liska just smiled on their way to the cash register. 

Runa meanwhile had warmed up to Lilly and they were talking about clothes.

“So these clothes will easily get you through the summer ,but in autumn I would suggest you come back to pick up something thicker. Or if you ever feel the need to go into Tundratown or the Rainforestdistrict you should get other clothes for that.”, Lilly calmly explained to Runa while walking. Runa understood and smiled, “I am sure we will come back here if that is the case.”

Upon hearing this Lilly looked left and right as if checking for anyone that might listen in before leaning closer to Runa and whispering, “I am not supposed to say this but don't come here for the Tundratown stuff or in winter. Go to a shop in Tundratown directly, they got way better quality clothes for these temperatures at much cheaper prices than the stuff we sell here.”

At the cash register sat another doe. Unlike Lilly she had dark gray fur and seemed to be older.

She scanned all the items and removed the weird objects that stuck to the clothes, which Lilly had explained earlier were ink bombs designed to ruin the clothes if they were to be stolen so the thieves would not be able to use them. 

Once Liska had paid the bill they made their way back to the stairs that lead down towards the parking garage.

Lilly gave Runa a short hug ,”welcome to Zootopia sweetie I hope you have a good time.”

To which Runa eagerly replied, “ I am sure that I will. Thanks for helping me with choosing the clothes I would have been entirely lost without you.” 

This in turn made Lilly chuckle, “ don't thank me for that. That is my job.”

She took a step back before saying ,” thank you for choosing our store and have a nice day.”

Liska smiled , “Likewise”.

And Runa just smiled and waved while walking down the stairs. 

“So”, Liska started , “let's show you your new home shall we ?”

“I can't wait”, Runa happily answered.

Right now she felt as giddy when she was a little kit. 

And she knew that more was still to come. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> First I want to thank PrinceOfBlades and his girlfriend over on FF.net for suggesting some of the outfits in this chapter. Thank you both. I mean it from the bottom of my fashion sense less heart.
> 
> And I want to apologize again. I feel like this chapter is terrible but I can not think of any way to make it better. Yes it is really short. Yes it seems awkward and it is. If someone with more talent for stuff like this wants to have a go at this chapter by all means be my guest and help me out. Who knows maybe one day I will rewrite this. But now I totally lack the vocabulary for this sort of scene. So I look at the bright side instead of trying to turn garbage into gold for multiple days like with the last chapter. I release this now and can continue with the rest of the story.
> 
> At least we are getting back on familiar territory now. Alright let us collectively leave this train wreck of a chapter behind and move on. (Yes I mean all 3 of you dedicated readers out there)


	11. A tower of water

Now after having bought some clothes it was time for Runa to finally see her new home.

And she realized something. Anticipation was worse than boredom.

Being bored was bad yes, time seemed to stretch and that could drive you mad. But at the very least you can distract yourself with basically anything.

Now anticipation was different. There is this feeling of want deep down in your body. That yearning for whatever it is you are waiting for. And the closer you get the worse it seems to become. The nasty thing about this is. You can't really distract yourself from the carrot dangling in front of your nose.

This was the problem Runa was now facing as they made their way through the skyscrapers of Savannah Central. Liska had told her that they were almost there and he was probably right.

But as always in a city this big traffic left much to be desired. And so they slowly moved forward, at what felt like sloth pace, towards their designated goal. And while Liska was really relaxed about it all, Runa wasn't. No definitely not. So she just sat there and glared at the back of the taxi in front of them. Currently she resented all traffic, since it was not really something she knew from the farm. Yes she had read about it, but experiencing it firstpaw was downright agonizing. So she tried to go for conversation with Liska by asking questions about where exactly it was he lived, but she was shot down every time.

Liska seemed to get a kick out of letting her run into this without any knowledge whatsoever so he could surprise her.

But even though it did not feel like it ,they were moving and so they ultimately reached their goal after what had felt like an eternity.

The building was a tall blue, black tinted skyscraper that looked like was made entirely out of glass and spray painted steel. It had taken them a while to get here and from the looks of the building itself as well as the buildings surrounding them it seemed to be located in the heart of the district as it was one of the biggest buildings around.

They entered the building itself through another parking garage, which they were only able to enter when a guard let them in. And it was huge, there were expensive cars everywhere and it seemed to go down multiple stories underground. And like the building above it was designed with blue and black accents everywhere it was impressive to say the least. All the parking spots where marked by floor and as Liska explained where meant so that every mammal on said floor had a designated parking spot available to them. Once they made it to a row of parking spots that was mostly empty which read 'Floor 145' Liska parked the car and they both grabbed the bags containing her clothes. At this point Runa was ready to jump of the walls. Her excitement seemed to have hit it's peak and she just wanted to see the flat. “So”, she asked as they made their way into an elevator which strangely only had eight buttons, “the apartment is on floor 145 ?”

Liska smiled as he hit the 'E' button and replied, “technically? - Yes.”

Upon hearing that Runa frowned, ”what is that supposed to mean ?”

As the elevator doors opened before them Liska's smile grew into a smirk and he said ,”don't worry you will see.”

The lobby of the building was a spacious room covered in a calming blue light and the sound of flowing water. The origin of the sound were giant chainmail curtains that were covered in flowing water spaced out in small intervals all over the room forming pathways that were designed to lead any entering mammal towards the receptionist at the far end of the room.

It was a magical experience to enter the room for the first time.

Runa had no idea how long she just stood there and stared. And she did not care.

It was just too beautiful. The water that was constantly flowing broke the light of the hidden light sources all over the room and caused it to playfully create a flowing motion made of pure light on the decorative floor tiles.

Liska meanwhile just stood there and smiled at the flabbergasted bunny,”Welcome home.”

This did the trick as she broke out of her stupor Runa decided to go with the most obvious of questions, “I am going to live here ?”

That cause Liska to chuckle, “Well not here ,as this is the lobby. But yes, you will live in this building. Come on let's go.” 

With that he made his way over to the reception and Runa followed.

The receptionist was a male Lynx wearing a suit and he eyed Runa somewhat dismissively.

But he never stopped smiling as he greeted them , “welcome home Mr. Hunter, so glad to have you back.”

Liska, wearing his own trademark polite smile, answered, “And I am glad to be back, Stan how is your daughter ?”

To which the Lynx answered, “she is much better thank you for asking, sir. And if I may be so brazen as to ask. Sir, why is there a rabbit with you ?”

“This young rabbit here is my new personal assistant, and as such she needs a keycard since she is going to be living with me from now on.”

The lynx paused for a moment and just mustered Runa.

Which made her feel very uncomfortable. She really did not feel like she belonged here at all. Even Liska seemed to be really under dressed.

The silence was broken by Liska himself.

“Is this going to be a problem ? “, his voice was just as cold as in that moment on the farm where she had asked him what his reason for attacking the farm had been. And just like back then she could feel her fur stand on end. Even though his threat was not directed at her it made her feel endangered just by proximity. She was not the only one feeling fear in this moment though.

Stan's smile had faded and fear was written all over his muzzle. He seemed to deflate a little before he meekly replied, “no, sir.”

“Great”, Liska said with a smile that almost seemed devilish, “we will be on our way then. Get it done till tomorrow.”

There was another meek ,”yes, sir.” as they walked past Stan's desk towards another elevator.

Once inside Liska swiped a card and pressed a keypad to dial in ninety and the elevator came to life.

And like always Runa's curious side took over, “Why are going to floor ninety ?”

Liska chuckled, “one problem of the wealthy and rich is living high up in the city.”

He made a little pause for emphasis as the elevator was still moving.

“And the elevator can only cover so many floors so we are going to change elevators once we are up to floor number ninety.”

Runa nodded and they continued waiting for the elevator to reach its destination.

After about a minute of waiting it then finally did and the doors opened to reveal another beautiful floor.

There were chainmail curtains once more but this time there was something that stood out even more that the play of light created by them that captured Runa's eye.

The room again was spacious, there were tables and aquariums all over the place and it seemed to be some sort of restaurant. There were predators eating and talking, but nothing of the sort registered to Runa. The thing that caught her was the view. Just beyond the tables, the aquariums and the curtains was a gigantic window front which allowed all mammals in the room to gaze at the city below. She was just about to move towards one of the windows when Liska caught her by the hood and stopped her.

“You will have enough time to look out of windows when we get home.”

For a moment she felt sad but she obliged and followed Liska into another elevator while staring at the windows that were so close yet so far away.

Once more he swiped his card but instead of the number 145 he entered an eight digit code and the elevator started moving.

It took them another minute or so to reach their destination.

And once they did there was a triangle shaped room before them. There were curtains once more but this time they only decorated the walls. Each edge of the triangle was a door and Liska made his way over to the door opposite of the elevator.

“So we have two neighbors ? What are they like ?”, Runa's interest was peaked as she knew she was most likely going to live here for the rest of her life.

Liska smirked as he turned around to face her, “This is my floor there are no neighbors.”

Her eyes went wide as she realized what that meant.

“But...but..isn't that...like really expensive ?” ,she asked at a loss for words.

Liska chuckled as he turned around dialing another combination into another keypad.

“Well crime does tend to pay really well if you do it right.”

And with that he opened the door leading her into a big spacy living room.

It was a very modern apartment with lots of black and white furniture.

The things that stood out the most where a grand piano in the left corner just in front of the big panorama windows. A giant TV hanging on the wall on the opposite side of room the with leather sofas and a leather armchair surrounding a glass table in front of it. On the right side of the room the floor was raised higher than on the left and there was a bar that made up almost the entire wall. She did not even try to count the bottles as there were too many. In the far right corner of the room , just parallel to the TV was another smaller TV in front of a pool table.

While Runa was being impressed by her environment Liska made his was over to a door on the right side of the room just next to the bar. Runa followed out of habit as he lead her into the next room. Which happened to be a kitchen.

At least half of the room was upon further inspection. The part of the room they were in was the kitchen part of the room with counter tops all around and the usual kitchen equipment, all of which looked high end. There was also a table like work surface in the middle of the room that had a sink and was home to the hotplates of the kitchen. At the end of the kitchen half of the room there was a half wall which functioned as another little bar and a divider for the room. On the other side of the room she could see a kitchen table in front of another window and a few cupboards.

And just as she was taking in the whole of the room before her she heard an unfamiliar voice.

“There you are. And damn, you brought home a pet.”, the source of the following sigh was a white female rat with blue eyes and an unamused look on her face standing on top of the kitchen table with crossed arms. She was wearing jogging pants and a hoodie. But what stood out about her most was a pink floral pattern on the right side of her head which was dyed into her fur. Starting under her right ear and going down to her throat and god only knew how far further down it reached.

“Awww...come on Runa is a cutie isn't she ? And now we finally got someone who can do the housekeeping for us.”, Liska tried his best at appeasing the rat before him but it seemed to have no effect whatsoever as her expression did not shift at all.

The rat continued, “at least now I know why you needed to buy rabbit clothes.”

She was now looking at Runa ,”and let me guess her being here means more work for me, right ?”

Liska tilted his head to the side a little bit before asking, “why are you so mad ? This is so unlike you.”

The rat's expression changed from annoyed to angry, “Why am I so angry ? Geez, I wonder why ! I mean the mission you went on, ALL BY YOUR LONESOME, went completely off the rails. And the only thing you do when you call me on the way back is ask for a place where you can buy rabbit clothes!” The angry expression had turned to a sad one, “YOU COULD HAVE DIED !”

Liska dropped the bags he was carrying, went closer, picked up the much smaller mammal and embraced her.

And she continued,“what would I have done if you had died ? I mean there is only four of us left. And you are our LEADER. If you are gone then it will all fall apart.”

Runa was just staring at the two mammals before her as the fox comforted the rat just as he had comforted her just the night before. Holding her and stroking her back.

Liska seemed to wait whether the rat in his arms had anything left to say before he spoke.

“Come on Clara”, he said in his soft voice, “I was a field agent for most of my life and I have killed more mammals than I can remember. Something like this is not enough to take me down. And even if it did, I sincerely doubt that Leah or Jack would abandon you. You are my most important resource after all. I am sure they would fight each other over which one of them gets to keep you.”

Clara was sniffling but her her voice did not break when she said defiantly. “Alice was a field agent just as long as you were and that did not stop her from dying!”

When that name was mentioned Runa saw a chip in Liska's armor for the first time as his ears fell and his eyes seemed to be filled with sadness. And for the first time she heard Liska genuinely beg for something,”please let's not go there.”

Clara replied somewhat startled, “Sorry I did not mean to...well, open up old wounds. I just wished you would have told me about the backup plan you and Jack made. Please forgive me.” Liska just nodded before saying , “Damn that could have gone better ”, he sighed ,”I need some sleep now. So let's talk later.”

Liska seemed really down and that did not fit him at all in Runa's opinion.

After putting Clara back down onto the table he went for the door on the right side of the room.

“Come on Runa I will show you where your room is.”

With one last look towards Clara before leaving the room Runa could clearly see the damp spots in the rats fur that she was trying to dry with the sleeves of her hoodie after having cried.

And Runa wondered if her being here was really okay.

Before them was a long corridor with multiple doors. “Yours is the last room on the left and there is a bathroom next to your room so you should be fine.” ,came Liska's emotionless voice from the front.

“And this is my room if you need to wake me up for some reason.” , he said while pointing at the door next to him as he came to a stop.

He looked at her before saying ,”Just stay in your room till I come and get you since Clara seems to be a little bit sensitive at the moment.”

With that he went into his room and closed the door.

Which left Runa alone. And while she might have been alone she also had orders and she would not cause anymore trouble by disobeying them.

So she went towards the end of the corridor and surely enough there was a door on the left.

A door she went through that revealed a big bedroom.

The first thing she saw was that the entire wall before her was a big window from which she could see down into the city. There was a bed big enough to fit at least twenty rabbits on the left side of the room with two nightstands. And next to the bed there was a door.

In the in the middle of the room was lots of space. And once she closed the door she could see a desk right next to the door she had just closed. It was a little bit high for a bunny but she was sure that she would be able to manage. There was a computer on top and it seemed to be fully stocked with papers and pens. A little bit further to the right was a shelve filled with books and then there a little corner with a sofa, a table and TV. She was sure that if someone asked her to live here she would have been able to comfortably do so without ever setting foot into the rest of the apartment.

After she put down her bags she went exploring.

The door next to the bed lead into a bathroom with a shower, a bathtub and a walk-in furdryer.

She also found a remote which could be used to turn the window into a milky white color which made it impossible to see through with the click of a button. It was a neat little gadget.

When she was through exploring she decided to take a well needed hot shower before she sat down on the side of the bed and watched city below her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note:
> 
> So if I count together the views from here and FF.net I got over a 1000 now which is more than I thought I would ever get. And before you say it ,yes I now there is always a romcom story out there that looks like it has been written by a dyslexic four year old that has 10x as many views and a few dozen more kudos and that is part of why I love this community. It is so random. ^^
> 
> As for the chapter. I did not want them to have a fight but it just felt so right. It felt wrong for Clara just to accept having been left out of the loop by Liska.
> 
> I am very proud of my building design by the way. It just came to me on a whim while writing this chapter I think it sets a great atmosphere.
> 
> And onto my random trivia for research , I heard that language or more importantly the way that it is used says a lot about the person that uses it. I wonder what this story says about me ?
> 
> And I noticed that about 20 of you are dedicated and come back to read every update and I want you to know that I am grateful to all of you.


	12. Life of a spy

Waiting for Liska proved to be a tiresome task, she read her book and watched some TV.

Time flew by and so somewhere in the middle of the day Runa just fell asleep. This did not go unnoticed by Liska who came to get Runa sometime in the evening.

Being faced with a sleeping bunny however made him reevaluate the situation and he just left her asleep.

 

**Late evening of the same day, in some warehouse in Tundratown**

 

Stan Fastpaw was on the outside a pretty average criminal, little did other mammals know that the young cheetah was not the average criminal that he seemed to be.

But that he was in fact a ZIS agent and that his specialty were deep cover operations.

He loved his job, he loved acting, it was his passion. But even more than that he loved his country. And so when someone from the higher echelon of the ZIS entrusted him with this off the books deep cover mission about two years ago, he was enthralled.

When he had been told that several highly decorated ZIS agents had gone rouge. He had felt a resentment he had never felt before !

These mammals were his brothers and sister in arms! They were the ones that were entrusted with protecting this country from any threats be they from the outside or within. So hearing that they not only had gone rouge but where trying to overthrow the government was all the motivation he had needed to throw away his former life and pretend to become a rouge agent in order to join their ranks.

That plan had never really worked out to the extent he had hoped it would though.

But over the years he had become the bodyguard of one Marcel Pakter.

Marcel was one of Hunter's assets, a hyena that had specialized in money laundering and cleaning crime scenes. So becoming his bodyguard had been very informative but it lacked something.

As his bodyguard he was never allowed to attend the meetings where the real information was handled. And since that was the case he had no idea what was going on in Hunter's other operations.

But today was special, today was the day. All high ranking members had been called for a meeting on short notice and since Marcel was sick he had sent Stan to attend instead.

So as he was standing in front of two tigers that covered in body armor from head to toe armed to the teeth with military grade assault rifles ,while a wolf in a suit was wanding him , he felt only excitement instead of the fear he should definitely feeling in his position. But this was going to be the peak of his career so he couldn't help himself. Taking down rouge agent Liska Hunter and his organization was guaranteed to earn him a medal and a promotion. Not to mention becoming a hero to his fellow coworkers.

But thanks to his training, nothing about the inner workings of the ZIS agents brain showed to the outside.

So it did not really matter.

After the wolf had checked that he indeed was not wired or carrying a weapon and had taken his phone he was allowed to enter and another wolf in a suit lead him towards the meeting room. The building was a normal warehouse in and out of itself however the magic was happening below the building.

In one of the containers that were standing around the warehouse was a secret hatch that lead to the structure below. It was amazing even to him as he descended into the bunker.

The room below the hatch was a big chamber with concrete walls and a big reinforced steel door.

The door was currently open and they went right through. What followed behind was a maze of corridors that made him wonder just how big the structure actually was and what its purpose was.

He had no real time to wonder though as they soon reached their destination.

Before him was a room big enough to accommodate even large predators. The room was a command post or so it seemed,as there were rows of computers on both walls of the room and a whiteboard on the far end of the room. There were lots of tables in the room organized in the shape of a U allowing every mammal sitting in the room to view the whiteboard in case of a presentation.

The room was filled with mammals, and while the wolf lead him to his seat he could get a good look at the mammals before him. First of all he felt his heart drop when he saw wolves in full special operations gear standing all around the room, but it was not the fact that there were guards that scared him so. It was rather the fact that it was THE 'Wolf Pack' that was standing around the room like average guards. If the infamous best counter terrorism unit in the country really had gone rouge that was going to be devastating news for top brass of the ZIS. But he forced himself to focus and looked around more. There was Jack Black the leader of their unit ,that filthy traitor, sitting right opposite of him chatting with a female clouded leopard. Jack was a monstrous wolf almost the size of a tiger. Next them sat two other mammals he was devastated to see, police chiefs Snarlov and Whittecat.

If the chiefs of precinct 2 and 4 were involved that meant the whole city was in danger since the police was corrupt ! There was a polar bear that, just through his massive size, he could identify as local the crime lords right hand Koslov, and surely enough upon further inspection the arctic shrew known as Mister Big was sitting in a small chair in front of his aide. Then there were also two honey badgers, a female and a male that he did not recognize. There was a female ocelot sitting around and talking to the female badger. And there were about a handful of ZIS agents scattered around the room, some still had their badges at their hips.

All in all the corruption went far deeper than Stan had expected.

It took about fifteen minutes before something happened. A door opened and in strolled Liska Hunter, the traitor, he was wearing a black suit with a black tie and there was a female white rat with a weird fur tattoo standing on his shoulder.

The entire room went quiet when they realized he had entered.

As he made his way over to the whiteboard he extended his arm for a moment allowing the rat to climb down with well practiced efficiency and jump onto one of the tables.

After taking his position in front of the whiteboard with his arms crossed behind his back he waited for a moment, letting everyone stew in the silence that enveloped the room before speaking up.

“I called your here today, because I wanted to inform you that our operation is hitting its last phase soon and that this is going to be our last meeting for a while.”

The reaction to his words were confused and concerned stares by many of the mammals in the room.

There was even one of the ZIS agents raising his paw to signal having a question.

But Liska flat out ignored him and continued.

“Before I go into detail I want to thank you all for your outstanding work. According to my plans we we are far ahead of schedule. This was only possible through your sweat and blood so thank you.”

He smiled and the confused and concerned stares turned into smiles as well.

However the ZIS agent from before, a lion, was still raising his paw.

So Liska nodded, “yes, Richard ?”

And Richard stood up before speaking, “sir, I know that I am speaking out of line here but some of us were wondering what exactly the reason is for us delaying the operation if we have already finished most of the preparations already.”, it was a statement rather than a question.

Stan waited for the lion to sit back down but that did not happen at least until Liska gave the order, “alright sit back down and I will explain.”,he paused for a moment and Richard sat back down.

“As some of you might know Senator Burchell is going to candidate for president next summer. This will make him vulnerable to our attacks as he will have to keep up appearances in order to win the election. It is just that simple even if we are ready to strike now we need to be patient and attack when he is most vulnerable. Does this answer your question ?”

Some mammals in the room were nodding, including Richard.

“Then lets move on ! Honey, dear I heard you and your husband finished what I asked you for today? “

This time the female badger stood up on of her chair, she was wearing orange tinted glasses, a lab coat and camouflage pants. Paired with her Mohawk it made her look somewhat weird from Stan's perspective.

“Yes , we did ! And I have a question myself. “

Liska nodded before asking her to continue ,”go on.”

“We finished the product and the antidote that also functions as a blanked immunity response, but production is slow and we have had no time to test the long term effects of the antidote yet. Are you sure that we really need to use chemical warfare ?”

Liska nodded once more ,” yes I am sure. The FPM definitely will and we need to be ready.”

This hit Stan like a truck full of bricks and he was sure he lost his cool for a moment.

CHEMICAL WARFARE ?!?

This was bad , really bad!

Chemical weapons were banned and for good reason!

No don't panic ,not now he thought to himself.

He took a deep breath and continued listening to the conversation.

Honey had sat back down and Liska had walked into the middle of the room.

“That being said we are entering the final phase of the operation, which means there can be no failures. And it also means that you need to keep the rest of what you are going to hear today all to yourselves !”

Liska turned to face in Stans direction and he could feel the cold sweat beneath his fur.

But Liska gave him a warm smile while coming closer ,” that reminds me that you are here instead of Marcel, say how is he ?”

Stan stood up somewhat awkwardly and almost toppled his chair while doing so.

“He has a bad cold sir, but he should be back up soon”, he managed to reply professionally.

 

Liska tilted his head a little to the side before saying, “that is great to hear. And Stan ?”

Stan gulped before answering , “yes, sir ?”

Liska smirked right at him, “relax a little, I won't bite.”

Upon hearing that Stan let out a breath he did not know he was holding.

“In fact I want to thank you.”

This confused Stan a little but he went with it , “thank me sir ?”

Liska came even closer, and was now standing right in front of Stan's table.

“Yes, you know it is the small mammals like you and not mammals like me or Senator Burchell that wage wars like these. It is thanks to mammals like you who believe in the fight. Mammals who fight loyally for those at the top.”,Liska's smile turned into a devilish smirk ,” and you really had a good run, buddy, I am sure Senator Burchell is really proud of you!"

Stan's could feel his fur stand on end as fear settled in. And before he could even react Liska had already pulled a gun from a holster beneath his suit jacket, there was a laud noise and Stan felt a sudden surge of pain in his stomach while is legs gave away beneath him causing him to kneel on the floor. As he looked up all he saw was the barrel of the handgun in Liska's paw.

"So thank you for participating !", a flash and everything went dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So the plot is set up ! There will be some time jumps in the next chapter(s) and I have another question.  
> I plan to gloss over a lot of things in Runa's new life and just mention them without going into too much detail.
> 
> If there is something that interests you that you think I should write in detail (about her living with Liska and Clara for about a year) before the plot kicks back in please say so.
> 
> As you know (if you read these notes at all) I do lot's of research. For example I now know that big cat species can not purr unless the exhale air at the same time. The funniest thing though that I discovered by researching for this chapter is about a character you will get to now soon enough. Leah (the clouded leopard in this chapter). So I wanted to finally know how big she would be. In my mind she was always taller than Liska . And she is, barely. Funny thing clouded leopards are about the same size as red foxes. The extremities are generally longer though. And the tail is. That is the funny thing Leah's tail is almost as long as Liska's hip to snout height with a wopping 80 centimeters( almost 3 feet). I mean that is a damn long tail.
> 
> Another question before I leave , should I rework the summary/ tags and if so in which way ? (give suggestions)
> 
> Alright we have a civil war to set in motion !


	13. A brief History

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important:   
> This is a small history lesson of my AU.   
> I wanted to bring this info in somewhere in the last chapters but I did not manage to do so.   
> I deemed it important though so here it is.

 

 

 

A long time ago when mammals were just evolving a conscience, predators hunted prey in order to survive. And this behavior carried on through the evolution of mammals all around the globe.

Mammals evolved and formed tribes, started using language and tools but they never really stopped eating one another. This time in the history of the world is known as the dark age.

Prey creating tribes and building shelters to fend of the continued attacks by the surrounding predators on the hunt for food.

Prey learned to farm and predators learned to craft traps and long range weapons.

But things did not stay this way forever.

No, mammals were evolving , they were getting smarter.

And so it happened that sometimes unusual bonds were formed.

A stray predator being taken in by prey as a slave becoming a cherished member of the tribe.

Or a lost prey kit taken in by a lone predator for the sake of having someone to care for or having a hunting partner once more.

These singular events happened every now and then and changed the perception of all mammals involved.

And just like that it happened that some mammals learned that predators and prey were not so different at heart.

This knowledge was not really used however since the overall situation was still the same.

Predator eats prey.

They had to in order to survive.

Or at least that was what mammals thought back then.

And if not for a very special coincidence they would have continued to do so.

Long before there was any cooperation between even different types of prey it so happened that this concept was proven wrong.

On an island with a single big watering hole mammals of all types were forced to to approach said watering hole in order to get water. And after loosing countless mammals on all sides predators and prey silently agreed not to attack one another while visiting the watering hole.

And so it became a sacred ground to all mammals on the island.

But the story does not end there since mammals were still eating each other on the rest of the island.

The thing that set in motion the greatest change in the history of mammalkind was a storm that destroyed the crops of the prey on the island and destroyed the huts of many predators and prey alike.

So when all species met at the watering hole in the middle of the island.

All were devastated. Nobody knows exactly which species made the first move.

But in order to combat the damage done by the storm predators and prey joined paws.

Some believe it was the predators who offered to help , knowing that without the prey in the area they would starve.

While others believe it was the prey who asked for help since they were in desperate need.

No matter which story is true it laid the foundation for the creation of the first predator prey village in the history of the entire world.

And this village was named Zootopia.

In order to make decisions a council was formed from representatives of all species.

As time went on the alliance between prey and predator proved to be strong indeed.

Predators helped prey with the fields and prey helped predators fishing and hunting birds or reptiles.

All in all predators and prey learned to coexist.

For a brief period of time.

As time went on the population on the island grew larger and larger.

The little village became the first city in the world.

Soon mammals strayed beyond the confines of the island and the regions of Bunnyburrow and Deerbroke County were born. 

This movement acted as a buffer for the inevitable problem that was about to present itself after a few generations had passed.

Without predators that hunted them and hurt them prey mammals had a real peachy life.

And they started multiplying left and right. In the beginning that was not too bad.

And it was seen as a good omen. After time had passed however prey started to overpopulate the region. There was just too many of them. And that lead to food and resource shortages as well as a space problem. This hit the overall population really hard. But mostly the prey part of the population as predators used other food sources.

This lead to many mammals dying of starvation. And those who did not die of starvation ?

They were prone to get diseases. Some malnourished females gave birth to litters of deformed or outright dead kits.

Overall it was a mess.

And the prey mammals realized that they had a problem.

In this time there was two ideas how to deal with this problem among the prey population.

Number one was to strictly regulate the number of litters a mammal was allowed to have during its lifetime.

This idea was not well received as many mammals believed that if this was possible mammals would have realized and done so already.

The second idea was born from ideology. Many prey mammals believed that the food shortages as well as the deformed kits or the diseases were natures way of telling them that they had defied its wishes. They believed that they were punishments by the gods for their shortcomings of fulfilling their lot in life.

To them it was clear as day that predators were meant to eat prey and that this natural order of things had to be restored.

The second belief resonated with more of the general population than the first.

And so the leaders of the different prey species came to an agreement.

They told the predators that they were going to be tasked with eating the weak and the old to end the existing problem of overpopulation.

And the predators obliged.

It was also decided that all prey families had to vote on one or more individuals over a certain age each month if their family grew over a certain size.

This system worked for about two centuries before prey started to question the system and demand it to be taken down.

Once more the predators obliged and stopped eating prey.

But after a few generations the same problems occurred again.

The leaders of the prey population realized that the system that their grandparents had destroyed was vital to maintain the balance of the world.

And once more a new system was made.

This time however the predators were given more rights and more freedom when performing the “purges” than before.

It was also agreed upon that the prey population should not be able to demand the end of these “purges” as they would do so when they forgot the hardships of their ancestors.

This system was in place for a few centuries more.

And it was not until the industrial revolution that prey mammals tried to topple the system once more.

This time it was a revolution rather than a peaceful discussion.

Since prey were not allowed to have a say when it came to the agreement they decided that attacking their oppressors was the best course of action.

So they did, and naturally they lost.

This lead predators however to question the nature of the agreement as a whole.

After all it was their duty to uphold the will of nature and stop society from collapsing as a whole.

The consequence of trying to break the sacred agreement of old ended badly for the prey part of the population. They were stripped of their rights and some were put in farms, others became serfs to the general predator population.

Except for a select part of the prey population, the Zootopian population to be precise.

Since Zootopia had been the cradle of the agreement many old Zootopian prey families had decided to side with the predators in order to fend of the rebels that threatened society like their ancestors had shaped it so many centuries ago.

And for those deeds the prey population of Zootopia retained their freedom.

However like all prey they lost their right to participate in politics or carry weapons none the less.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note:
> 
> Yeah consider this the tale that is roughly taught in school in my AU. Also consider that only prey mammals in Zootopia can go to a school. And that all other prey mammals are home taught.
> 
> So yeah here is another short "chapter" for you. I just have so much free time this week.  
> And I am asking again, should I rework the summary/ tags and if so in which way ? (give suggestions)
> 
> And is there anything you want to see in detail about the year for Runa, Clara and Liska , just tell me. If you don't know what I mean I mean things do you want to know about things like the first time cooking meat or I don't know how they celebrate Christmas ? If you don't that chapter will be real short.


	14. Debriefing

**About an hour after Stan's death**

 

As the room was clearing out three mammals remained in the room.

Once the last mammal had left Liska was jumped by Leah as the female clouded leopard pulled him into a crushing hug.

Which caused Jack to chuckle as Liska wheezed ,” Leah let me breathe. “

Leah however had other plans and prolonged the hug for a little while longer while giving a soft purr. Once she finally released Liska from her grasp he had to take a few deep breaths before continuing. “Damn I was scared of this the whole day.”

This time both Leah and Jack broke into laughter and Liska just smirked.

“So why the hug ? “ ,when he saw Leah's questioning gaze he went on to elaborate, “I mean I fully expected to get a full lecture here.”

Leah straightened herself out and put on a no nonsense face before saying , “ And you still can.”

Before Liska could respond however Jack cut in, “ damn, she grew to be just like Alice.”

A weird mix of sadness and pride appeared in Liska's eyes as he ruffled the fur of Leah's head prompting an embarrassed , “HEY!”, from the feline before softly saying ,”she sure did.”

This caused the feline in question to get angry , “don't treat me like I am still a little kitten !”

This caused Liska's expression to be exchanged for a more mischievous one , “ is my poor wittle kitten angry ? “

His mischievous grin was met by a frustrated look from the feline in front of him and just as she opened her muzzle to react Liska cut her off ,”poor wittle kitten you don't have to be. After all uncle Liska and uncle Jack are right here to protect you.”, while saying this he pulled her into a hug. That was it for Leah and she kicked Liska in shin, causing him to let go of her, before turning her back to both males. With a fake pout she exclaimed , “ I hate you both , I can't believed I worried about you !”

Both males only smirked though as her traitorous tail gave her away through its happily quivering tip.

It was Jack that broke up the moment though,” so, I guess you want to know about how things went down on my end ?”

Liska nodded, “So what was your impression of our little heroine ?”

“The rabbit ? “, Jack paused for a moment ,” feisty little thing. She really took the whole thing well for someone in her position.” Suddenly Jack chuckled, “You remember agent Wilde I assume ?”

Liska seemed to think for a moment before he answered , “ wasn't that this vixen over from central that they put in your care because they wanted her to be my successor in the future ?”

Jack nodded ,” yeah, she is just like you were. At least if you look at her mindset.”

This caused Liska to raise a brow ,”really ?”

“Yep”, Jack answered , “sky high IQ and sub zero morality numbers combined with a highly loyal attitude , she will do fine in our trade.”

At this point Leah cut into the conversation ,” so why does she matter in all of this ?”

A smirk found it's way back onto Jack's muzzle as he answered ,” well she almost got her ass handed to herself by our little heroine while the rabbit was still cuffed.”

Liska just looked at Jack quizzically, “ are you implying something here Jack ?”

It took a moment for that phrase to settle in ,but when it did fear was in the wolfs eyes, if only for a brief moment, “no, no of course not. It just looked so funny on camera ! And it makes me wonder why exactly did you want me to save her in particular ? I mean wouldn't any one of the captured mammals have been enough for a distraction? Since the chip in her neck wouldn't have worked either way ?“

Liska nodded , “any mammal would have been enough but she is the poster girl of the FPM. Losing her would mean a big blow to their movement.”

Once more Leah cut in ,”but wouldn't they still have Gazelle as their voice ? So losing one of them shouldn't outright destroy the movement, right?”

Liska sighed , “Yes it definitely wouldn't , but Judy is an idealist in a very high position so we always know exactly what we are up against. And I mean if Gazelle had been there you would have probably saved her over the others too, right ?” 

Jack had a dirty grin on his muzzle ,” Damn, if Gazelle had been there I know exactly what I would have done with her.”

This time both Leah and Liska looked at him quizzically.

And ultimately it was Liska that spoke, “wow, Jack I did not know you swing that way !”

It was pure bliss for both mammals to watch as the big wolf that most mammals would only ever describe as intimidating lost his composure and went into denial like a puppy that had been caught doing something illegal by his parents.

“No! I would never lay my paws on a prey mammal ! What would make you think that ?!”

It was outright adorable to watch the inside of his ears turn pink with embarrassment and Liska started laughing.

But Leah decided that this was not enough yet, “ I don't understand, I mean why wouldn't you ?”, she ask in an innocently sweet voice, “ I mean if the pictures I have seen are accurate, Gazelle is just that kind of female some mammals would change camps for, if you know what I mean.”

She gave him a meaningful wink at the end of that sentence before she went for the next strike by throwing her paws over her maw and giving an exaggerated gasp ,” wait that means, oh dear ! Jack, I am so sorry! I didn't realize! Why didn't you tell us that you were into males ?”

Jack's expression changed from embarrassed into mortified in seconds.

Liska meanwhile fell onto his back laughing like a mad mammal.

Jack was still trying to save himself and did not notice the mischievous glint in Leah's eyes , “no I am not into males...I...Leah ! You know just how many bitches I romance every so often!”

Leah played dumb,” Maybe you were just overcompensating ?”

She then went on and put a paw on the wolfs arm, “don't worry I won't judge.”

By the end of the last sentence she just couldn't keep her act up any longer and burst out laughing herself.

After laughing for a while she saw that Jack's expression had changed from mortified to angry and she decided that mercy was in order. So she put on her best baby doll eyes while putting her paws before her muzzle in a pleading manner and said, “awww...come on, you know I was just pulling your leg.”

Jack just glared at her and they stayed like this for a while, till Liska sat up only to comment , “damn, I missed this so much.”

“Shouldn't have gone away for five months then.”, Jack remarked.

Liska sighed ,”work is work, and work needs to be done.”

Leah crossed her arms and remarked,” you could have sent someone else.”

Liska shook his head ,” not this time, you know that.”

There was a moment of silence.

Liska was the first to recover and brought them back on track, “okay, back to the topic at paw. How many mammals died ?”

Jack answered immediately ,”From the bureau, nine agents and most of them were guards. Three FPM agents died while trying to take the blacksite. And all of the prisoners died except for the bunny.”

Liska frowned upon hearing that , “All of the prisoners ? I thought I gave orders to let as many of them escape as possible ?”

Jack nodded and countered ,”Well yes you did and I wanted to let the coyote live as well. But I had to keep up appearances and we were pressed for time when you pulled that stunt with the burning Farm. It is the FPM's fault for not showing up as fast as they were supposed to, I mean the rabbit almost died too !”

This was a bold statement they all knew, but they also knew that it was right and that Jack's cover was more important than the lives of some FPM agents.

Still Liska had to continue the discussion, “So you are saying that the mission was almost a total failure because you left something to chance ?”

Now Jack was in a tight spot he knew how important this diversion had been so all he did was give a short nod and say, “ Yes, basically.”

It was Leah that saved him by saying ,”the FPM had all the intel they needed to make that rescue. All that was off was the timing so next time Jack just has to be more reliable with his time management .”

Liska sighed ,”Yeah, next time we will plan stuff like that more thoroughly.”

”Well this was more improvised than anything else.”, Jack added while giving a nod.

And with that he prompted Leah to share ,” and it did work. Top brass believes that the farm was a diversion in order for the FPM to attack a secret government facility and save their comrades.”

With a smile Liska asked, “ and what would your role be in all of this ?”

Leah smirked ,”behold, before you stands the special agent in charge of this whole mess.”

“So you are going to lead the investigation ?”, Jack asked with a curious tone.

“Naturally.”, came her smug reply,”which means we are going to work together in the near future. And then I can finally meet the infamous agent Wilde.”

Just as the words had left her mouth one could see the cogs in her head turning.

“She is not dead is she ?”, came her question only seconds later.

“No, I would have told you if she had died.”, Jack answered dutifully ,”I sent her home early, her being beaten by the bunny was a great excuse to do so.”

“Alright”, Liska cut in ,”since you two seem to have this under control , I will take my leave.”

And with that Liska turned around , but just as he was about to leave he was stopped by Leah who put a paw on his shoulder.

“Say, Liska”,she said in the same innocently sweet voice she had already used with Jack, “I heard you 'adopted' a cutesie little rabbit. Is that true ?”

Liska froze, “yes I did.”

Leah choose this moment to move up and pull Liska into a hug from behind and with her muzzle now right next to his ear she asked , “why ?”

Liska did not even flinch and answered ,”I did it on a whim but if she proves to be trustworthy that means she will be part of the family nevertheless.”

This was apparently not the question Leah wanted answered ,”No , I mean  **why** ! I want to know what went through your head. You never do stuff like this , so this rabbit has to be special.”

Liska sighed heavily,”you see right through me, don't you ?”

“Yes”, he admitted ,” I do have selfish reasons for this. But you should be content knowing that I am doing this for the sake of my own mental well being.”

“If it is that bad, I can quit my job and come back home.”, Leah offered.

Liska shook his head, “no! We need you in order to monitor the ZIS's progress and movements or to throw them for a loop if necessary.”

And then added a little bit more softly ,”besides I already promised her that I would take good care of her, so I will.”

This time it was Leah's turn to sigh, “if that's the case I guess it will have to do. But I want you to introduce her to me soon.”

Liska chuckled ,”sure.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:  
> So this is the chapter that almost never was.  
> Why you might ask. Because I wanted to add something that is in this chapter to the last but it just did not fit.  
> So I just wanted to move on without it, but then someone I know told me that he had read the 12th chapter and wondered where this little piece of plot is that I told him about before. And I told him it did not fit. So he asked me to put it in as he thinks it would be better for the readers later on. Which lead me to design a chapter I never intended to write around this.  
> That being said there is lots of hidden plot in this chapter.
> 
> Research/random info time: Cats hold their tail up if they are happy. If they are really happy the tip of their tail will be quivering as well. Cats can however force their tails down even when happy (like when hunting prey) but that often won't stop their tail from quivering/swishing left and right on the floor in excitement when they are happy. Like before pouncing prey or when playing.


	15. Time well spent

Time passed.

And living with predators was not really all that bad for Runa.

Of course it took a little getting used to. No who was she trying to kid ?

It took a lot of getting used to in order for Runa fit into this new world and all for her to master her new tasks.

And the first week was definitely the worst. And while there were many things for her to get used to like how to properly act like prey in the city or in general, those things were nothing compared to the chilly start she had with Clara. The female rodent somehow treated Runa as if she was out to do the rat personal harm and she had no idea why. After the first week however that changed and Clara became rather friendly towards the doe. First Runa had no idea what exactly had changed Clara's behavior so drastically but soon she found out that it was because of her new friend Leah. Runa had met Leah just at the end of her first week in the city and the two had hit it off as soon as they met.

Leah seemed to have a weird relationship with Liska. Runa couldn't quite tell if they were lovers or just friends or something else entirely. Sometimes they would act like siblings and then at other times Liska would treat Leah like a little kit. Sometimes they would bicker like a married couple and sometimes Leah would shoot Liska looks that were obviously not coy. But Runa never dared to ask.

Leah treated Runa almost like a sister. And since Leah and Runa were such good friends she went right ahead and did what even Liska couldn't, set Clara straight.

Apart from making new friends, work wasn't really what the young Farm rabbit would consider 'work'. Being used to working in the fields made her feel out of place when she started to go shopping or when she started assisting Clara with paperwork.

Paperwork was the worst, it was always reviewing some sort of report, scan it and neatly arrange them in folders on the computer.

To Runa working with a computer was new. While they did have computers on the farm they had been slow and even though their access to the internet was heavily restricted they were always occupied by someone. So Runa never really bothered with them. Now the computers were fast and there were many programs for her to learn how to operate efficiently, it was hard work. This went on for a while, until Liska found out and told Runa that she did not need to help Clara with her work since it wasn't meant for the rabbit. Working with Clara however had strengthened the bonds between the two females and Runa was not about to give that up.

Another thing that Runa had to inevitably learn was how to cook meat. This was her personal little war, her against her instincts. And at first it seemed the latter were winning the fight.

Her first interaction with meat through touching it prompted her to throw up.

Liska was by her side however and encouraged her to go on. And so she did. After throwing up a few more times she actually got used to holding meat in her paws. But holding meat was still a far cry from making it into something 'edible'. And so more problems arose when she tried to actually cook the meat. And it wasn't the looks or the texture of the meat.

No something deep inside her mind made her feel sick or slightly panicked whenever she smelled the scent of meat being cooked. The first time she almost passed out.

Liska was not to pleased by that as handling a kitchen and passing out was very dangerous.

So he went ahead and decided that she would not need to cook the meat herself if the problem was the smell. So for a few weeks all she did whenever food was prepared was do whatever dished were vegetarian while Liska prepared the meat. And that actually worked, after a while she noticed the smell less and less. And when she realized one day that she did not feel anything at all she proceeded to prepare meat herself. This brought to light another problem however.

Runa could not taste the meat. And so she had no idea how to properly make it, leading to a few very unpleasant meals for Liska. But he always told her what she had done wrong and how to improve. And she was grateful for that.

Another thing she was grateful for was the total lack of bunny meat in the household, well apart from herself of course. When she asked Liska about this he told her that while he really did it to make things easier for her. He also preferred deer and beef which made the whole thing easier on him as well.

Time flew by.

And so when fall came around the doe almost did not notice.

How would she ? In the city with it's climate walls there as a little bit of change, yes. But to someone like Runa who grew up on a Farm out in the countryside there was too little change to really notice. By this time however she had really gotten into her work however.

Shopping groceries was easy. Cooking was something she enjoyed and she learned new recipes every week. And cleaning the house was really easy when she stuck to doing one room a day.

And so as she became better and better at her duties she gained more and more free time.

Free time she would spent with things like playing cards with Liska,working with Clara or watching films with both. She also had lots of time to read books of which Liska possessed many.

Somewhere in fall however Liska decided that she had acclimated to the household just fine and went ahead and gave her new tasks. Mainly learning stuff. And it was Liska that taught her.

Stuff like history and advanced calculus. But also stuff that would help her out in the streets, like how to deal with different kinds of mammals by teaching her their customs.

He also decided that she needed to be able to defend herself. Which lead to Runa getting her fluffy tail kicked three times a week during training. But she improved steadily, she wasn't great by any means but she learned the basics and that was enough to satisfy Liska.

And one evening while watching an action movie it so happened that Runa got into a discussion with Liska about how realistic a scene was where a badger blew up a weasel with a homemade explosive using only fertilizer and sugar. Liska said it was doable but also not advisable for the average mammal. And since Runa apparently showed interest in chemistry he decided to add it to his to do list. Which lead to them going into a warehouse in Tundratown every once in a while where they would blow stuff up or create colorful reactions. This time however it really was just for fun. Liska did not push her to improve like he had when training her in paw to paw combat or when teaching her other stuff. He was content letting her do her own thing while occasionally helping her out whenever she had a question. Naturally he did correct her though if she did something blatantly wrong though since some chemicals were without doubt dangerous.

And boy was blowing up bottles or other small stuff fun. It made her feel like she was the protagonist of one of her books.

And so time went on and winter came around.

This was definitely the worst season of the year.

Not because she did not like the cold or because of something like that, no.

It was the worst season in her opinion because Liska seemed to change.

She could not help but notice that he seemed stressed and sometimes even gloomy.

He also did something she had never seen him do before and brought home a vixen or two every now an then. And she was not stupid she knew that he was sleeping with them. But she did not really understand why. It just seemed unnatural for Liska's behavior to change so drastically all of a sudden. But like with Leah she was too afraid to ask such personal questions. Speaking of which Leah did not seem too happy about Liska's new behavior either and had a few arguments with him about something. And it made Runa wonder, why winter ?

She found out though when Leah asked her whether or not Liska ate enough ,something Runa had not really paid attention too until this point, because she wasn't sure if he had. When Runa asked why he wouldn't Leah told her that Liska had lost his mate, and that this was usually a death sentence to foxes. She also told her that winter was mating season for foxes and that because of this Liska was acting so strange. This changed everything for Runa though. She put up with Liska being stressed and gloomy from then on, she made sure that he was always eating enough and she tried to find out what loosing a mate meant for a fox.

Apparently it really was a death sentence.

From her findings she determined that foxes were really romantic mammals, since they chose one mate for life. This mate would be their soulmate and if said mate died the other partner would usually die shortly after. There were exceptions to that rule though. Foxes with kits for example would go on for their kits sake and survive just to care for them. Or very rarely a fox would find a new partner before dying but that was really rare. And sometimes there were reports of foxes who believed in ideals,ideas or tasks that they used to fill the void that was left behind by their lost mate.

This made her wonder what made Liska go on and when his mate had died. And generally what kind of mammal she had been. Would she have been okay with taking in a stray rabbit ?

Would she be dead now if Liska's mate had been still alive ?

Those questions were also new to Runa, but she never dared to ask.

Winter passed and Liska returned back to normal.

And so did their routines.

Spring was relatively uneventful and the only thing that really happened was that Liska left for two weeks to do a job.

When Spring was almost over the behaviors of many mammals changed. They started reading newspapers and watching the news, after all, it was election year.

And this leads back to the present.

Runa and Liska were sitting on the couch while Clara was sitting in Runa's lap and all three of them were watching TV. This ,normally, was nothing special. However today was very special indeed since today the different candidates would be announced and each one would give a personal speech outlining their program for when they get elected.

The first candidate to be announced was a painted wolf (African wild dog) by the name of Alexander Burchell and the way the crowd cheered he seemed to be the top candidate. And then Mr Burchell explained his ideas for a better future. How he would crack down on organized crime and how he would push for a diplomatic resolution concerning the strained relationship with their neighboring country Animalia, whether it would lead to a war or not and that he was the only mammal ready for the task.

The next candidate was ,unexpected, an otter and not just any otter a female to boot. This was totally unheard of, but they were living in a society where females were not really discriminated against. What made the whole thing totally weird though was the introduction.

“Ladies and gentlemammals , let us welcome the second candidate running for president. Olivia Otterton! “, the crowd was silent for a moment before breaking into cheers. “Welcome Mrs Otterton it is great to have you here. “,continued the show master before asking, “So Mrs Otterton what are your goals once you get elected?”

Mrs Otterton took her place in the middle of the stage and grabbed the microphone before answering, “ I wish to make the world a better place for all mammals.” ,the crowd cheered upon hearing this. “And this is why I want to restore prey rights and make it possible for them to participate in politics again while also giving back freedom to the mammals in the countryside. I believe we have been mistreating our prey brothers and sisters for far too long.”

There was a moment of utter silence. At this particular moment Runa was very sure that the entire city had stopped completely.

It was Clara that broke the silence in the room,”Where the hell did that idiot come from ? Freeing prey ? What the hell ?!”

This caused Runa to uncomfortably gaze down at the rat. She knew that Clara believed that prey were inferior by nature, so did Runa after all. But hearing that there was someone fighting for the prey side of the population was still nice.

And Clara continued, “ who the fuck , let this god damn fish head candidate in the first place ?”

It was Liska that answered after chuckling, “Alexander did, with her as his opponent there is no way he can't win.”

“But if he did , what does that mean for us ?”, asked Clara somewhat fearful.

“Well”, Liska said with a sigh,” it means that if we attack him like we planned that he would loose and she would win. Which we both know can not be allowed to happen.”

This made Runa cut in ,” why would you attack Mr Burchell ?”

Liska just smiled ,”because he is a bad mammal and if he gets elected we will all be killed and there won't be much we can do about that. And thus we need to prevent that from happening, besides I still got a score to settle with him.”

Killed ? Runa did not want to be killed. Why was she only hearing about this now ? Would they be okay ? Had the plan already failed ?

These questions went through her head and she did not really notice how the conversation moved on until she had calmed down a little.

“You are right, our best shot at this would be to provide our own candidate and Ottertons presence is the perfect excuse for a change of heart.”, with that Liska stood up and it was Runa that was asking ,” where are you going ?”

Liska smirked ,” doing some politics. I already got some potential candidates all I need to do is a little bit of 'convincing' and I think we should be good. So I should be back in a week.”

Runa nodded,”okay, be safe.”

Liska laughed and made his way over to his room to pack.

 

The next day was shopping day, and since Liska was not home for about a week ,Runa would only need to buy food for herself since there was still enough food for Clara in the fridge. So she went to the usual place , a supermarket that catered to predators. This had been hard the first few times since they wanted to throw her out. But since Liska had been with her the first few times he had made sure no one did and now every regular mammal in the shop knew her, some even greeted her.

And so she bought her food and made her way back to the apartment. It was a beautiful day out and the streets were bustling with life. All was well until she felt a little sting in her side.

She felt weird, her arms grew heavy, she started to stagger and eventually fell. Before she hit the ground however she was caught by two strong paws ,even though she barely felt them.

And the last thing she heard was , “ Runa , hey are you okay ?” ,said by an unfamiliar female voice before everything went dark.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note :
> 
> Missed me ? No ? Okay, *sniffle*.
> 
> Wow , I wanted to get this out yesterday and it was supposed to be much longer or it really was. But I installed a new version of open office and that somehow corrupted my entire library. That means I lost this chapter. This also means I lost all my character sheets that I made and all my notes for future chapters. I am currently working on writing new ones. And I was pissed that I had to write this chapter again. So it is now shorter.
> 
> But hey the plot is starting to take form,yay for me. And look I got my first bookmark, whatever that is.
> 
> Don't worry I will get back to writing faster eventually.


	16. Meet and Greet

“So Margret and me wanted to know if you would like to come over for dinner this Sunday. We have filet steaks.”,asked Wolford rather casually before adding, “You can bring your sister if you want.”

Nick paused a moment while scanning the right side of the road they were patrolling on.

“Sure, as long as Margret makes that apple pie she is so famous for.”,he said with a grin.

Wolford smiled in return and remarked, “damn, you are driving a hard bargain. But I guess I should be able to talk her into it.”

Nick smirked ,” should be able ? I think you already asked her to and need me in order to get some.”

“Alright, you got me.”, Wolford said in mock defeat, “so are you and your sister going to help me out ?”

Just as Nick was about to answer he saw something weird happen on the prey side of the sidewalk.

Just moments ago a young brown rabbit doe had been merrily walking down the street only for her movements to change unnaturally. This caused Nick to focus on her more closely, she was wearing a sleeveless hoodie, a white T-shirt and dark blue shorts, she was also carrying a shopping bag from a nearby supermarket. She dropped the bag and started to stagger. She was about to fall but just before she hit the ground she was caught by another rabbit, a gray doe, wearing a pink checked blouse and tight jeans, giving her a countryside doe kind of look.

So that happened, bunny stumbles, is caught and everything is alright.

Nick was about to turn away and return to the conversation with his partner when he noticed one last detail though, the brown rabbit was not getting up again. Even though she had not hit the sidewalk it was clear as day that the young doe was out cold.

And so Nick went right ahead and nodded in the direction of the two does, “hey Frank , look over there.” Wolford eyes followed Nick's gesture and he immediately understood, “alright let's go check that out.”

And so the two officers made their way over towards the two rabbits while Nick radioed in, “Dispatch we have got a possible 10-54 U, performing 10-56.”, only to have Clawhauser say ,”10-4”, on the other end.

Meanwhile another rabbit had shown up at the scene , a buck with gray fur just like the second female, wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks. And he was just about to carry away the brown doe bridal stile when the two officers arrived. “ Stop, sir would you please explain what transpired here ?”, asked Wolford in his professional work tone.

Both rabbits stopped and turned around. And the doe apparently almost got a heart attack, judging from the expression on her face while looking at Nick.

Nick however was not really bothered by that , since he knew that prey mammals often feared police officers. For them police meant problems as committing a crime would usually lead to an early death, since prey that commit crimes are only good to serve as a food source as far as the system was concerned. And so he decided to go easy on them, “What my partner is asking for is what happened to that poor doe in your arms, so that we can help you if necessary. Mr ? “

“Hoppkins!” , came the nervous answer ,but not from the buck , but rather from the doe.

This caused both officers to just look at the two rabbits, while waiting for their other question to be answered.

Luckily for all parties involved, the doe realized this and went on , “we were just walking down the street when we saw Runa over here collapse. “ , she pointed at the doe in question ,”and so we just picked her up and now we wanted to bring her home.”

There was a moment of silence and it was Wolford that continued with protocol , “ Then we should bring her to a hospital, if she just collapsed like this, so that the professionals can handle this.” , and just as he was about to radio it in the doe almost jumped him , “ NO!” , which caused both officers to eye her as suspicious.

“I mean , Runa is 'bought' and her host is working her to the bone! I am sure that is why she collapsed and I am also sure that he would not be too pleased if she were to show up in a hospital...and...and...”, she looked like she was about to break into tears, “...and..he might hurt her.”

Both officers knew that this was totally possible, and that their intervention would likely be seen as a breach of contract in favor of the predator in question. And that would likely mean that the brown doe would be sent back to the farm she came from. It was not pretty by that was the way things went here in the city, some mammals were simply hard to touch for a normal officer.

They both looked at one another and understood that neither one of them wanted to force that upon the young female. That didn't mean that they could just let her be taken by these two other mammals.

And so Nick went ahead and tried to soothe the female before him , “ Alright , no hospitals , miss ?”

The rabbit looked up towards him with hope in her eyes and sniffled before answering ,”Hoppkins, Judy Hoppkins. That over there is my brother James. “

This prompted James to try to wave awkwardly with Runa still in his arms.

“Alright , we are going to need your identifications though.”

Both rabbits nodded and James carefully placed Runa on the sidewalk before him. While both lagomorphs reached for their identification papers , Wolford readied himself to relay the data to dispatch in order for them to check it against the system database. Nick meanwhile eyed the rabbits a bit more closely. They both seemed nervous but that was to be expected. He had a weird feeling about this whole thing, but when both identification papers were checked there was nothing out of the ordinary. Judy then went ahead and fished Runa's papers out of one of her pockets ,since none of the males dared to.

Runa's papers confirmed the story. She was a Farm rabbit from the Farm that was attacked about a year ago and she had been legally contracted to a Clara Reyard.

Nick couldn't help but comment the name while giving back the papers though, “ Runa Rabbit ? Really? Talk about uncreative last names. I wonder who came up with that one.”

Nobody laughed, and Nick went on , “ So Miss Hoppkins, I know a doctor that wouldn't charge you or sent you to a hospital. And I believe that it would be best for your friend if someone checked on her since fainting is always dangerous.”

Just as he had mentioned this the doe seemed to panic for a moment. But just as soon as it came it passed.

And just as she was about to open her mouth she was interrupted by the radio on Nick's shoulder, “10-84,10-34S2 at third”

Both Officers looked at each other before there was another radio hail , “OFFICER DOWN! I REAPEAT OFFICER DOWN ! SEND ALL UNITS” , in the background the sound of automatic gunfire could be heard.

Both Officers immediately took of towards their cruiser while Nick answered , “10-4 we are on route.”

 

When both officers had left Judy was thanking her lucky stars. This had been a close call. And why had this fox to look so much like that vixen ? For a moment she had thought that she would have a panic attack. Nevertheless it could have been worse and whatever was happening in the city had just saved her tail.

Now all she had to do was getting Runa out of here.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> Important: So this is half of a chapter, and I want to know where is the second half going to take us. Should we follow Nick and Wolford or Runa and Judy for the rest of the chapter ? Either side of the story is going to be interesting.
> 
> There are too many 10 codes out there. So I just choose one , deal with it.
> 
> There will be lots and lots of FPM in the next chapters.


	17. Special Agent Hunter

Time went by on the fly for the two officers on their way to help their brothers and sisters in blue. The whole downtown area was a mess. What had happened was that a prey group of unconfirmed size had attacked a group of Burchell supporters with automatic weapons in the middle of the street. This lead to four of the supporters being killed and many more civilians being hurt. But those were not the only casualties.

The first responding officers were also attacked and while one of them died directly on the scene the other, the one that called this mess in, was now in critical condition. All in all this was a horrible scenario, but what made it worse was that it was far from over. When Nick and Wolford had arrived there was not much they could do, except help to set up a perimeter to prevent other mammals from getting close. As the mammals in question had retreated into a diner and taken an unknown amount of hostages.

Contact had yet to be made.

Chief Fangmeyer had arrived at the scene just minutes ago and was on edge, to say the least.

“So, Chief what is the plan?”, asked Nick. Normally he would have cracked a joke to take away the tension of the situation. But he did not dare at this point. One officer was dead and another one might not live to see another day, no this was no place to crack a joke.

The chief looked up from the monitor in front of her and turned to the other officers in the mobile command center at the other side of the street looking right at the diner, “we got orders from city hall to wait for the ZIS to come and take this situation over from us.”

Everybody in the room was taken aback by this statement. This was something personal to all of them by now, their colleagues were their family, and now that someone had attacked their family they wouldn't rest until said individuals had been brought to justice. The chief knew that and added “They are treating this as an act of terrorism and that is their jurisdiction, so there is nothing we can do, other than assist them to the best of our abilities.”

There was a collective “yes,ma'am!” Before one of the technicians spoke up “chief, the hostage takers are trying to make contact.”

This brought more life into the command center than before, as mammals readied themselves for whatever would naturally follow.

But nothing came and many mammals were disappointed when the chief gave her orders, “don't make contact yet. The ZIS agents will be here in about ten minutes and we have orders to wait until then before we take any actions.”

This caused Nick to pipe up, “we can't just stand here and do nothing! What if these mammals in there decide to kill hostages because we simply don't answer their phone calls?”

This was were he was drawing the line. Waiting for the ZIS to take over because it was their jurisdiction, okay, but risking the lives of innocent civilians because they were supposed to wait? Not on his watch. It was the look that the chief gave him however that made him back down. There was sadness in the tigresses eyes. But that wasn't the only thing, chief Fangmeyer straightened herself up to her full size before saying in her usual authoritative voice and with a stern look. “Officer Wilde, we have direct orders from our superiors at the ZIS! If we fail to obey these orders we will be held responsible. That means if any of my officers fails to obey, I will be held responsible, do you understand?”

Nick nodded and meekly answered, “yes chief.”

It took a full thirteen minutes for the ZIS to arrive, thirteen minutes that, for the officers at the crime scene seemed to be endless. And as always conflict arrived with them.

Conflict in form of a clouded leopard that was shadowed by Nick's sister. Everybody knew that the relationship between the police and the ZIS was chilly at best, but it was usually the arrogant ZIS agents that caused conflict and not the members of the ZPD. This time however it was exactly the other way around.

When the two agents entered the mobile command center nothing seemed off, Nick was actually relieved that the ZIS had sent his sister since this would make things easier on all of them. Or so he thought until the clouded leopard introduced herself, “Alright officers, I will make this short. I am special agent Leah Hunter and as of this moment you are all under my command and report to me.”

So far so good Nick though and then something happened that he had never seen before as the chief straightened herself up to her full size once more while saying in a tone that couldn't have been anything else other than accusing with a look in her eyes that should have been able to kill the mammal she was looking at. “Agent Hunter? Is that such a common name among agents? I knew two agents named Hunter once and if I remember correctly they killed seven of my best officers before going rouge and becoming terrorists, are you related to them by any chance?”

Of course Nick knew about the scandal the chief was talking about from all those years ago, what he had not known was that the chief seemed to hold a grudge against the ZIS because of it. And even without that knowledge the allegation made in the statement was crystal clear to any mammal in the room.

The smaller feline however did not seem fazed by the words of the much larger tigress until she spoke up herself. “It is **special** **agent** Hunter. And while I am just as disturbed about the actions of my foster parents as the next mammal, am I to understand that you are insinuating me as a potential traitor because of my family name?”, agent Hunters voice could have been used to cool down Tundratown by a few valuable degrees.

And most officers in the room, including Nick, felt that chill running down their spines.

Not chief Fangmeyer however. The tigresses gaze only hardened even more as she replied, “Of course not. I was just reminded of these savage monsters when I heard your name, **special** **agent** Hunter. I apologize if my previous words could have been misunderstood.”

The ghost of a smile tucked on the lips of the smaller feline upon hearing this. And somehow it made her look even more imposing. She was just casually standing there paws in the pockets of her suit pants, her tail calmly swaying from left to right and back while the chief towering above her. And it was her posture and that almost smile that demonstrated to every mammal in the room that the smaller feline was totally untouchable for the chief and that she knew it.

“Great, I don't have to tell you that if another comment of the sort is made that I will consider this as a personal insult and then I will have your head for this.”,agent Hunter paused for a moment and this time she actually smiled, “am I being totally clear?”

You could actually see the discomfort of the chief and the delight of special agent Hunter when the tigress answered, “yes ma'am.”

Agent Hunter's voice turned from icy to cheery in seconds, “alright then let's make contact with the hostage takers.”

And so they did. The mammals in the building identified themselves as FPM operatives and had very clear demands.

First they wanted two armored vehicles in order to be able to escape unharmed.

Their second demand was that the media was allowed to stream the entire hostage negotiations to the public.

And their third and final demand was that senator Burchell was to step back from his position as a presidential candidate immediately.

When special agent started to negotiate these terms with them they threatened not one but two things.

First they clarified that if the public was not informed about the negotiations by the media like demanded in the next thirty minutes, they would start killing hostages every half hour. They gave a reasonably longer time frame for the armored vehicles though.

Second if senator Burchell was not stepping down like demanded, they would not only start killing hostages but they would also trigger bombs that they had placed all over the city.

This made many mammals in the room uneasy, only special agent Hunter seemed completely unaffected by these news.

Thanks to agents Hunters negotiation skills however they were also able to gain some valuable pieces of information from the captors. For example she was able to get the general size of the FPM agents and the approximate number enemies in the building by demanding that information in order to be able to provide the right size of vehicle for them. They now also knew that the biggest FPM agents in the building were rams and that there were likely eight agents in total.

Now that the initial negotiations were made all mammals waited for their orders.

And they got them. Most officers were to remain around the perimeter, there were some that got special orders though.

“Since we now know about the bomb threat to the citizens of our city we will need search parties in order to find these explosives and remove them before they can be detonated! We will do that in two ways!”, agent Hunter paused for a moment, “Chief Fangmeyer, I want precinct one to coordinate with all other precincts during this search! Use your officers to check public places and important landmarks. Make sure to use all resources available to you in order to comb this city completely.”

There was another pause and to the confusion of most the clouded leopard turned to face Nick, “Officer Wilde you have just been field promoted. And you will...” she was cut of by Nick, “wait , what?! Promoted ?”

The agent just rolled her eyes ,”yes promoted, please save your questions till after I finished talking, thank you.”

She looked at him waiting for confirmation. He gave a nod and she continued, “you will help your sister and a few other agents search the houses of all the FPM agents that we could identify thanks to the traffic cameras and the videos of mammals that were at the scene when the attack occurred. This means you are to search their houses for all information that might be of value and detain any mammals found in said homes and then as our liaison officer relay that information to the ZPD search parties in order to help them find the bombs, understood?”

Nick nodded once more, “yes, ma'am I understand.”

He saw the content look on his sisters face and the face of agent Hunter upon hearing this and agent hunter was just about to turn back to the chief. But he wasn't finished yet, “I can not do that however without my partner.”

Agent Hunter turned back to him and eyed him for a moment. It was like she was evaluating him, before she gave the okay, “sure take your partner with you.”

She finally turned back to face the chief and said, “what the hell are you all still doing here? We are pressed for time already without you stalling the investigation. So get your asses out there and start searching!”

There was a collective ,” yes, ma'am!”

And they all made their way towards their cruisers.

On their way there Nick and Wolford were intercepted by Jessica who was holding a case folder in her paws. “Alright Nick, these are the apartments you and your partner are going to search,” she said while handing Nick the folder. “I will inform the other agents and then catch up to you, alright?”

Nick nodded ,”sure thing sis, I think we should get going now. After all we got a city to save and if we don't do it that means it is left to these weird ZIS agents and that can't work out now, can it?”,he answered with a smug smirk.

And just as he wanted to turn around his sister replied with a smile that was just as smug. “Sure if you say so. Frank I am so glad that you are coming along. Would you be a dear and watch over Nick while I am away so he doesn't do anything stupid?”

Now it was Wolford's turn to grin and he answered ,”sure thing. I always do, that is why I was made his partner after all. I mean if I don't babysit him, who will?”

They all laughed and took off in order to find the bombs that threatened their city.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note:  
> So we will follow Nick for a few chapters now. Will our hero save the city ? Only one way to find out. And that way is for me to write more chapters. And since I started getting corrections for my grammar: I tried to make it better ! But I suffer from dyslexia and I probably should have a beta reader , but you guys seem to like it anyways so it can not be too bad in this state.


	18. Where the Rams live

Three of the apartments were located in one of the worse neighborhoods in the Meadowlands. One couldn't say that it was a slum, it was really not. But it was a part of the Meadowlands exclusively populated by prey with a really low income. Which in turn made it a magnet for criminals and other shady mammals. It was the exact place where Nick would have guessed the FPM agents in the diner had come from given their respective species. And normally going into a neighborhood like this, in uniform no less, would spell disaster. But given that most of the criminals in this area were prey, well, let's just say Nick did not expect much resistance.

That was the great thing about wearing the badge, a police officer really only needed to worry about the predator side of the criminal population when it came down to his own well being, as prey mammals often never dared to oppose the police since the punishments were far more extreme for them.

Now, finding the apartments however proved to be a formidable challenge since the area consisted of dozens upon dozens of tower block buildings each containing innumerable flats. And with the way the area had been in the paws of the local population for so long it certainly needed some love, just enough to make it look less like the remnants of an abandoned gang territory.

And since the area proved to be so difficult to navigate the two officers decided to split in order to search for the right buildings.

It was almost funny to see the local prey population hide away as soon as they saw either one of the police officers or how they glowered at them from behind their windows or from a street corner. But to Nick it only showed just how broken society could be. These mammals did not accept the rightfulness of the law and therefore feared its enforcers.

It took him valuable time to find the right apartment building. It was certainly well hidden, behind other apartment buildings and built in a way that made it look as though it was just a small extension of one of the buildings surrounding it. But it had it's own entrance which presented Nick with another problem how to get in ? He had a warrant and all but even then he had to get to the apartment first. And that meant a prey mammal had to open the main door for him.

And so he went with the oldest trick in the book and just pressed all the buttons. Causing at least one mammal to just go ahead and press the button to let the stranger in on their side. And with a buzz he was in.

He and Wolford had already decided on splitting up in order to use their valuable time so he just went ahead in search of the apartments he was looking for.

388 and 754.

Apartment 388 belonged to one Abraham Flock and his wife Samantha Flock, he was one of the rams on the list. While apartment 754 belonged to Nathaniel Rogers, a capybara.

Since Flock had a wife Nick came to the decision that visiting his flat was more likely to yield results. But just as he was about to enter the elevator, he was stopped by his cellphone.

Nick fished the phone out of his pocket with skilled precision, identified the caller with a glance at the screen and then took the call, “Yes Sis ?”

And surely enough Jessica answered on the other side, “Nick where the hell are you guys? I mean what even is this place? Does it have any structural planning or was it just build however mammals saw fit at the time?”

Nick could not help but smirk,”well first, we split up and I am currently at the apartment building which contains the apartments of Flock and Rogers. Second, I don't know what they taught you in ZIS training but we at the ZPD call this a residential area. That means that mammals live here.”,he could practically feel her annoyed stare even through the phone but he still continued. “And last but not least I have no idea but it certainly has a charm all of its own.”

He heard his sister sigh on the other end of the line and his smirk only grew.

“Okay, Nick, let me rephrase that. How do I find the apartment building that you are at? I mean I found your cruiser but that does not help at all.”

Nick nodded even though there was no one near to see it. “Well follow the road down towards Riverstreet and somewhere on the left there should be an alley with anti pred graffiti. From there you come onto a parking lot and then it is not too far.”

He could her jogging somewhere, mainly because her breathing picked up in speed before she seemed to stop and said, “you will have to be more specific than that I see about a dozen anti predator graffiti all over the street and it alleys.”

Nick pondered a little bit before he remembered the exact composition of the graffiti, “look for a canine,shadow like creature that has a dead squirrel in it's fangs. There should be lots of blood too and a message like, never trust, or something like that.”

“Alright found it.”, the panting resumed, “and then ? After the parking lot ?”

“There should be two big apartment blocks straight ahead of the alleys entrance.”, he wanted to go on but he was cut off by his sister,”there are about six here here Nick! Which ones specifically?”

“Sis, if you let me talk I would get to that.”,he answered calmly before continuing,”the ones just ahead of the alley entrance and if you look between them there is a small alley that leads into a back yard. In that back yard is the entrance to the other building.”

Panting resumed once more and about two minutes later he could see Jessica at the other side of the door. He hung up and opened it for her.

“Whoa...you seem to be really motivated to do this sis, I think I never saw you running for something before.”,he commented with a wink.

“Well”,came her answer still recovering from her little running trip,”the fact that the lives of innocent citizens are at stake motivates enormously.”

Once she had recovered a little she said, “Alright lets do this.”

Nick made a little bow and gestured towards the elevator,”ladies first.”

Jessica smiled and walked past him. He followed once she was inside.

When they were both standing in the elevator he said,”I believe we should start with Flock.”

“Sure, you got the file what was his number again?”,came her question in answer immediately.

“388 he is living there with his wife, so we might meet her.”,Nick answered while pushing the button for the third floor.

“Yeah,we might, but we also might not. If we do however, we have orders to arrest her immediately and bring her over to ZIA headquarters in downtown for questioning, unless she is cooperative and gives us information. Then we question her and _then_ bring her to ZIA headquarters for questioning. Understood?”

Nick nodded, “Sure, how are we supposed to treat her?”

A grim look settled onto Jessica's face and just as the elevator doors opened she drew her gun and said,“like an asset of armed and dangerous terrorists.”

This made Nick draw his own gun.

He never liked using it under any circumstances but his sister was right they were dealing with dangerous terrorists.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So this is my shortest chapter yet, but I have a good reason for all of this. Remember when I said that my notes, chapters and character sheets were corrupted because of my new open office version ? Well that was wishfull thinking on my part. In fact it was an early warning of the demise of my main hard drive. Which in turn killed my computer. I am currently trying to fix it. And it kinda works but until the new parts arrive things are bad.
> 
> So I lost a whole chapter again. And I couldn't use my computer for days. I am so sorry for all of you who actually enjoy the story. As I myself hate waiting for chapters of other fanfictions. Damn you Wilde Heart. I will try to get my computer to work stable again and then I will produce more chapters.


	19. Surprise Visit

Nick was tense. The plan was to ring the bell and surprise Mrs Flock so she would not be able to resist. If no one opened the door they would force it open and check the apartment for any evidence or for hiding mammals.

Luckily the first plan worked rather well.

Nick positioned himself directly on the right side of the door pressed the door bell while Jessica stood a bit further back her gun trained at the entrance.

And nothing happened. Well that was what it felt like anyways. The time they waited for a response, at least to him, seemed endless. In reality it was about a minute till they heard movement on the other side of the door.

This movement was followed by a female voice,”Abe are you back already? I did not expect you back until the evening.”,there was the sound of a chain being moved and then the door was opened while the voice continued,”you always forget your keys. You know if you keep forgetting them like this maybe we should put them in a designated key bowl or...”

The ewe's sentence ended right there when she looked down the barrel of Nick's pistol.

She did not have time to respond however as Nick's training kicked in and he yelled, “ZPD, HOOVES IN THE AIR AND DON'T MOVE!”

Samantha Flock did no such thing however. Instead she went with the well know second route of surrendering, by fainting right in front of them.

It took both Nick and Jessica a moment to realize what had just happened and for that moment they both lowered their guns and just stared at the ewe.

They had both mentally readied themselves to meet the wife of a terrorist that was willing to kill an unknown amount of civilians just to further his goals. A wife that could have been an asset for all they knew. They had both, deep down, been expecting a fight or if she was innocent they had expected at the very least that she would resist in some way since she was most likely indoctrinated by her husband. So it really caught them of guard when the female just fainted like that.

It was Nick that recovered first and he just couldn't help himself,”So do you think we will get medals for this ?”

His sister gave him a look that was beyond icy and moved into the apartment while apparently ignoring his statement, “Just help me move her towards the living room we can let her lie here while we search the apartment. She might escape if we do.”

So they both put away their weapons and Nick stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Once the door was closed they both grabbed the larger mammal by the limbs and carried her over to the living room. The living room itself was pretty ordinary. Just what you would expect from a poor prey family without kits living in an apartment block. The living room was also the kitchen which was just fitted into one corner of the room. In the kitchen corner there was a small table that would be able to fit around four sheep which was probably used for eating. And then on the other side of the room there was a couch with a small table and a TV in front of it. The rest of the room was decorated by some cupboards filled with stuff like books and boardgames. They just went ahead and put Mrs Flock down on the couch.

“Alright, Nick. You cuff her while I start searching the room.”, came an order from his sister which had already started looking around the room.

Nick went right ahead and cuffed the unconscious ewe. And while he was now convinced that she had no idea what was going on based on her reaction towards their arrival. He still went ahead and double locked her handcuff to make it harder to get them off, just in case if he had been wrong about her and she tried to pick the cuffs.

Once he was satisfied with the results he made his way over to his sister which was now sorting through some books on a shelf near the TV.

”Since you are going to look through all of this, I'll just go ahead and search the other rooms.”,said Nick.

“Good,”said Jessica without turning,”I will give you a howler if I need you. Just look for anything that might be related to the bombs.”

He nodded dutifully even though he knew she could not see him and took of towards the other rooms in the apartment.

The first room he discovered was a bathroom. It really was just an ordinary bathroom and since it was relatively small he went through it in record time. And he found nothing, well, apart from the make up,grooming kits and other things like that all of which were perfectly normal.

And since the bathroom had yielded no results he went on.

There were still two rooms to check after all. The next room he entered was very obviously the bedroom. And Nick went right ahead and checked the nightstands.

Here he found out that the couple seemed to have a very active sex drive. AS indicated by the condoms and the Viagra he found. This thought was later reinforced by the schoolgirl uniform he found in the closet. He could not help but chuckle at the though of the couple role playing as horny teenagers. But once more he found nothing incriminating at all, well apart from Abraham's fashion sense of course, if the clothes in the closet were any indicator to go by, which should be considered a crime again all mammals.

The last room was a study or something like that. It had a desk, lots of books and more importantly a computer.

“Jackpot!”, Nick slipped without noticing. If Flock had done anything incriminating in his apartment it was highly likely that it was communicating with his comrades. And it was also likely that he used a computer for that.

So Nick went right ahead and booted up the computer, only to be faced by a login interface that demanded a password from him. This was to be expected so he went ahead and searched the study thoroughly. Once more he came up dry.

And so he made his way back to the now trashed living room were Jessica was sitting with an over sized phone in her paws.

“I searched the other rooms and I found a computer that is password protected.”,he said somewhat disappointing at the results himself.

Jessica gave a sigh,”yeah this place is really ordinary. I mean look!”,she held up the phone towards him scrolling through the messages that were on it. Most of them came from the same mammal a contact named Abe followed by a heart emoticon.

“She mostly communicates with her mate. And when she does it is you forgot this or do you want me to buy that. She has some friends and she apparently meets them for knitting lessons every Friday.”

Jessica gave a frustrated huff, “this place is cleaner than our place for crying out laud and we are both enforcers of the law, god dammit.”

Nick mock raised a brow, “cleaner than our apartment? I as an officer of the ZPD can say that there is no less criminal place in the entire city!”

Jessica just gave him that 'really?' look and answered,”okay then it was just my imagination that you hold illegal card games in our living room with your old high school friends and some of your fellow officers every two weeks. Then I guess I can invite chief Fangmeyer next Wednesday to join us I think she has taken a liking to me after meeting my boss today.”, she finished with a grin.

“Alright, alright,” Nick said while raising his paws, “the gambling might be illegal but apart from that we are good. And who knows maybe her knitting circle is in fact a hidden gambling circle then we would be even!”

This caused Jessica to face paw and Nick continued,”But seriously what do we do now?”

Jessica gave another sigh, “Well we need to deliver Mrs Flock and the computer to the ZIA and those guys will handle the questioning.”

Nick nodded,”I have been meaning to ask this from the start why the ZIA and not the ZIS? I though you guys were handling this.”

Jessica answered, “Well the ZIA is actually not really an independent agency but rather, it is our way of dealing with the sheer size of Zootopia as a city.” She went ahead and put the phone away while standing up, “you remember how unsafe many mammals felt when we were kits because of the terrorist attacks? Well since Zootopia is so big the government founded a government agency that specialized in dealing with threats like these specifically for this city in order to make mammals feel safer, but they are actually just a bigger fancier local branch of the ZIS.”

“So it's actually just a ZIS precinct,” Nick wondered aloud.

“Yeah something like that.”,answered Jessica while getting out her own phone and dialing a number. “Frank, how are things on your end?”,she asked once her call went through. And Nick really hoped that Wolford had found something useful. “Alright can you come over we need you to transport a suspect.”

She gave a heavy sigh,”He found nothing either.”

 

**10 minutes later**

 

Wolford had finally arrived and Nick and Jessica had used the time to take the computer apart. “Alright let's do this,”said Jessica,”Wolford would you please get the suspect?”

“Sure” came his immediate answer. He then grabbed the ewe and started carrying her bridal stile.

“Damn, I did not know that sheep were this heavy.”,he commented while carrying her out of the apartment, causing Nick and Jessica to chuckle.

Wolford was just carrying the poor female off to the elevator when Nick stopped Jessica while she was following his partner with the computer's hard drives and the suspects phone in her paws.

“Jess, are you sure that I should continue searching the apartments? Shouldn't you do that since you are the trained agent?”, the question was genuine. Nick really wanted to get this over and save as many mammals as possible. And while he had been rather optimistic when they first started, now he was really frustrated with the results.

Jessica just turned around and looked at him,”Yes I need to deliver the suspect personally since I need to fast track her interrogation, but we will be back as soon as possible. And if I can't get away I will just sent Frank on his own.”

And with that they left while Nick made his way up towards the seventh floor.

The seventh floor was a complete mirror image of the third and so it did not take Nick too long to find the apartment in question. So he would go in wit his firearm, search it and probably come up dry like before. But while the floor was a mirror image of the floor below. The apartment was different.

The main difference being that when Nick was picking the door he realized that it was not locked at all. The second difference was on the inside.

The whole place was trashed. Nick immediately gripped his pistol tighter and proceeded towards the first room. He carefully peeked inside and scanned the room with his weapon from left to right. The place was really completely trashed, there were books and papers all over the place and furniture had been taken apart in certain places. The couch for example had been cut open completely.

But still no one in sight. He carefully proceeded forward to the corridor connecting the other rooms. All the doors were open and it was here that he heard a sound. It was the sound of rustling paper coming from the room just at the end of the small hallway. He carefully went ahead while still checking all the rooms in his path for possible accomplices until he reached the room where the noise had been seconds before. He paused for a moment and listened. There it was again, the mammal searching the place was definitely still here. When he peeked inside he saw a small mammal wearing black cargo pants and a dark gray hoodie sitting in a room that contained multiple desks with computers on them and lots and lots of folders all over the floor and stored in filing cabinets. The hoodies hood was covering the head of the mammal before him, making it impossible to guess the species of the perp. He saw both gloved paws moving though files though and determined that the perp had no weapon, at least not in his paws. And since he had the upper paw he went ahead and rushed into the room while yelling,”“ZPD, PAWS IN THE AIR AND DON'T MOVE!”

The mammal before him jumped about about a feet high in surprise and turned around to face him, paws in the air. It was at that moment that both mammals looked at each other in total disbelief. Before him was the same doe that he had meet earlier this day,

Judy Hoppkins.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> Yay, I got two new hard drives, which means I can write again. But first I need to get my computer back up to speed.  
> And I noticed that it takes about 2-3 times as long to write a chapter involving Nick and Judy compared to my OCs since it is really hard to do them justice.  
> Is there someone out there who wants to help me write the Nick and Judy parts of my story?
> 
> Random animal trivia time, now as you know in my story foxes are highly monogamus. And some types of foxes actually are and it is true that red foxes often pair up for life. But that they are not exactly faitfull in real life. Males usually cheat on every opportunity that they get and are even know to have entire harems of females of around 2-3 females. There are species of foxes however who are more faithfull and the male really dies of sadness when the female does. Not red foxes however and even among those species it is known that the female just goes on as normal if the male dies.  
> Rabbits I learned on the other hand are somewhat special regarding their mating partners. It is not unusual for them to mate their own siblings or parents since they have evolved in a way that makes this possible. Of course it is better if they find other partners since genetic diveristy prevents weaknesses from being breed in but rabbits can go many generations without new blood so to say. This is really disturbing if you think about the world of Zootopia. Also rabbits are also known to eat their young if they "don't feel ready" to have kits. Now that would be one dark angst AU to explore.


	20. POV

Coincidences believe it or not happen all the time. Zootopia might be big but to those that knew it thoroughly it seemed rather small. Nick was one of these mammals. He knew most of the city like the back of his paw. He always liked to joke that he knew 'everybody' and he actually knew a lot of mammals. And because he knew the city so well and knew so many mammals, he was almost never surprised by the city itself.

But this time around he was surprised.

Oh boy was he surprised. Before him stood the same rabbit that earlier this day had picked up another rabbit that had fainted from the street.

All on it's own that was not too surprising, after all the city was actually really small when it came to matters like this. No what was surprising was the fact that said rabbit was standing before him here of all places while doing, what seemed to be destroying evidence.

Yes, the fact that this doe was in the very apartment of one of the mammals that had taken hostages downtown and that she had gotten here before him surprised him.

And surprise sometimes does funny things to ones brain.

“What the hell are you doing here?”,was the only thing Nicks brain came up with.

Wow really smooth, was the only thing he could think immediately after blurting this out, really professional.

The doe before him seemed just as confused as he was and answered hurriedly, “I can explain! Just, just don't shoot! Okay?”

He recovered himself and went back to professional,“I won't shoot you unless you give me any reason to do so. So go ahead and explain to me why you are trashing the apartment of a known FPM terrorist.”

Judy flinched when he said FPM terrorist. She then took a deep breath and answered,”I am with the FPM.”, Nick instinctively gripped his pistol tighter upon hearing this. And naturally, this was not unnoticed by Judy which went on in a panicked voice,”But I have got nothing to do with these guys! In fact the FPM has nothing to do with any of them and this is why I am here.”

Nick was really good at dealing with suspects. He himself was a good liar and he prided himself with being able to see through most lies a suspect could tell him. So it left him feeling somewhat confused that he could sense nothing off from the doe in front of him. Her words felt very sincere in fact.

And his instinct told him that she was being honest as well, his instincts were rarely wrong.

This however left him with the question what this meant for the situation at paw.

If the terrorist were not with the FPM then why was an FPM operative here?

All he could do at this point was ask,”but our suspects have identified themselves as FPM operatives why should I believe you?”

The doe looked at him confused for a moment before asking,”don't you see how wrong this is?”

Nick was taken aback by the counter question. How was this wrong? Apart from the mammals being hold hostage part and the attacking other mammals in the streets with military grade gear part of course. The FPM was known for pulling stunts like these after all. Even though they had never attacked civilians before.

Yes if he thought about it from that angle it did seem fishy. The FPM while consisting of extremists and criminals never actually inflicted direct damage on the general population since they only went after the government and it's facilities.

His grip on the gun softened a little,”True this is out of the ordinary even for your organization but that does not mean that you wouldn't do it.”

To his surprise the rabbit remained rather calm and answered,”it is out of the ordinary and there is a bulletproof reason why these guys can not belong to us.”

Nick's interest was peaked, this was a chance to learn more about the FPM from a direct member. If he got valuable information out of this it could help Jessica and her colleagues to stop the FPM.

“Alright, I'll bite. Why not,Fluff?”

Nick had not intended to slip up like that and seem unprofessional but the expression of the rabbit before him was too rewarding. She went from calm to annoyed to angry and back to her poker face in seconds but the annoyance could still be heard in her voice when she spoke,”please do not call me Fluff! I have a name you know.”

This made him remember their meeting earlier this day. “Judy Hoppkins was it? I don't believe that is your name though, so why would I call you that?” He waited about a second before adding,”Fluff.” As his voice was dripping with smugness.

The bait had the desired effect. He could see her getting angry once more. “Just so you know, Judy is my real name! Only the last name is fake.”,she must have not been willing to share that though as her paws went from over her head over her mouth while her eyes went wide.

”DAMNIT!”,was all he could hear her mutter under her breath.

He smirked,”So Judy? No I think Fluff sounds better and I mean you are a criminal so I cannot believe you when you say something like that to me, you could just be lying after all, FLUFF.”

He laid this whole last sentence on extra thick in order to make her slip up once more.

But apparently this was too much.

Judy balled her paws into fists and threw them towards her hips where they came to rest while her right hind paw was thumping the floor. “DO! NOT! CALL! ME! FLUFF!”

It was amazing to see how with each word she uttered her paw seemed to thump a little bit faster.

It looked so adorable.He even wondered whether or not the residents of the apartments below them were already calling the cops with a noise complaint.

And he could not help but smirk even more. At this point he had already thrown any professional routine out of the window, he was enjoying himself too much. “Alright, I will be lenient this one time. No more fluff.”

Her paws went from fists back to normal and her hind paw stopped thumping while her expression softened. “Thank you.”

His smirk did not vanish when he replied,”you are welcome, _Carrots_. So you wanted to tell me about some reason why these guys are not FPM?”

She groaned and facepawed, which was about the cutest thing he had ever seen.

It took a moment before she replied,”yes there is a simple reason. And that is that these guys work against the FPM.”

This surprised Nick even more. How would this work against the FPM? “Why?”

Judy answered immediately,”because of the election. All that needs to happen now is for Mrs Otterton to win then we won't be needed anymore.”

This answer surprised Nick even more since it showed him that the Rabbit before him, that rabbit that he thought knew more than him, did not not know all the facts.

“Exactly, which is why the perps have demanded for Senator Burchell to step down from the election so that Otterton wins by default.”

Judy now seemed even more annoyed than when he had called her fluff,”yes, exactly! If Burchell loses like this. No one will recognize it! Or better yet it will be negated after these guys are caught and after they have shown the world exactly why they should not vote for Mrs Otterton. The only mammals that profit from this are the ones against freeing prey.”

This hit Nick like a speeding train cart . This made sense, if Burchell was forced to step down by prey terrorists, the only one that would suffer from this would be Mrs Otterton. While Burchell would gain the sympathy of the general population after him and his followers had been the target of such an attack. It also explained why the hostage takers wanted to broadcast the negotiations. If they failed to achieve their goals, they would at least be known to the public and that would hurt the image of the prey population. The same prey population that Mrs Otterton was trying to free. It really made no sense for the FPM to shoot themselves in the paw like that.

He lowered his gun a little bit.“You are right that makes sense. But that does not explain what you are doing here.”

She nodded, “true, I am here to do the same thing that you are doing, find the bombs and stop them from going off. Only difference is that I need to find proof that these guys are not FPM members like they say they are as well.”

This made sense as well, if the FPM wanted to minimize the damage done in their name they would need to stop the bombs from injuring innocent civilians to cut their losses at the very least. And if they found proof that these mammals wanted to frame them then they would be save.

“So did you find anything?”, he asked rather casually.

She nodded vigorously,”yes! I can show you.” Without waiting for his permission she went right ahead and grabbed some papers from a nearby table. And showed them to him in a proud manner. They looked like pages torn out of random brochures.

“Look, these are coded messages just like the Guild uses them. I believe these mammals are Guild mercenaries that were hired to do this.”, she stated just as proudly as she looked.

The name Guild made his neck fur stand on end. The Guild was known to be a dark organization that specialized in providing services to other criminals, like mercenary work, laundering money or brokering information. The Guild was well known as an urban legend. But law enforcers like Nick knew that the Guild was very real and a pain in the ass to deal with.

This forced him to look at the papers before him more closely, only one of them looked suspicious in the way that someone had written small numbers all over the page. But even so it made no sense to him at all and he wondered if the bunny was trying to cheat him in some way.

“I don't see how you would make that connection, Carrots.” Her look shifted to annoyed once more while he continued,”honestly, these look like average brochure pages to me.”

She then went into lecture mode,”I do not know what I expected from an average police officer.”,that one stung,”but these 'average brochure pages' are a known way to code messages among criminals that ally themselves with the guild. Therefore if we decoded them we would know more about the criminals and the ones who hired them.”

Nick nodded,”alright and how would we do that?”

At this Judy frowned,”we need to know which cipher was used and then we need to decode it, simple but it costs time.”

Nick looked at the paper with the numbers once more,”is that your attempt to decipher this?”

Judy shook her head,”no this was on there before I got here. I sent pictures to my colleagues and I hope that someone can decipher this while I find more evidence.”

Nick lowered his gun fully and extended one paw,”alright give it to me so I can send it to my colleagues as well, that will double our chances.”

Judy was hesitating. Nick rolled his eyes,”come on Carrots. We are after the same thing and there are lives at stake here. And I don't know about you but joining forces in order to save lots of innocent mammals seems like the right thing to do to me. Truce?”

She mulled over what he said for a moment, he could really see her brain working. I was almost as adorable as when she was angry. Then she handed him the papers,”truce!”

Nick put his gun away and went right ahead by grabbing his phone from his pocket in order to photograph the papers in his paws. All while Judy was looking at him somewhat expectantly. When he had finally clicked 'send' and put his phone back in his pocket came her question,”so if we have a truce, are you going to turn me in when this is all over?”

Nick looked at her sternly for a moment, weighing his options and whether he should lie to her. But she had been truthful towards him all this time, so he decided she had earned at least that much.

“Naturally.”

She nodded, “fair enough.”

He looked around the room,”So what else are we looking for?”

Just as he had uttered these words he saw a carpet. Now a carpet was nothing unusual, but the fact that there was no other carpet in the apartment, as far as Nick remembered made, it stand out to him. Judy seemed to notice that he had found something,”Did you find something?”

He just nodded and made his way over to the carpet. It was partially under a desk so he went ahead and pushed it to the side. This act of strength was calculated by him but even so he had apparently miscalculated the weight of the offending piece of furniture. And thus the task proved to be rather strenuous. Hey, at the very least the carpet moved along with the desk, revealing the floorboards below. At first glance there was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, but when Judy went right ahead and thumped the floorboards with her paw it surely enough sounded hollow.

Judy grinned, “good job officer.”

And she went right ahead and tried to pry open the floorboards. But she did not really get far with that. Or rather she did not manage to do anything at all. So Nick went ahead and grabbed his pocket knife. He flipped it open in a swift motion and stabbed it between the floorboards in order to pry them open. And it worked. After about a minute of prying they had opened the floorboards.

And what they found below was a wooden box.

It was rather simple but it looked sturdy. Luckily for Nick and Judy it was not locked however and so they marveled it's contents. The first thing in the box was a map of Zootopia with lots of circles, lines and what seemed to be routes on it. Jackpot! Below that was a stack of cash and a handgun.

Nick went right ahead and confiscated said handgun without any complain from Judy as she was engrossed in the map.

Just as he was about to talk he was cut off, not by Judy but by his phone. Needless to say it startled both of them. He looked at the screen, it was Jessica. “Hey sis, how are thing going at the ZIA?”

Jessica answered and he could feel the annoyance in her voice,”Something is fishy about this whole thing Nick! We were just about to, _push our suspect for answers,_ when some guys from the government showed up and told us that we could not interrogate our suspect solely based on affiliation with a criminal. And then they took her away. Do you know how many mammals we have interrogated based on less information?”, now she was getting angry,” Far too many and I tell you never has anyone cared! So why now? I tell you something is not right.” She paused for a moment. “Sorry, ehm, did you find anything apart from those pages?“

He answered, “Yeah I found...”, just as he was about to answer he could see Judy shake her head and bring her paws into a begging position. He would have to get checked for diabetes after this. This was just too cute.

“Nick are you still there?”

He cleared his throat,”ah, yes! Yes, I found something.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> Is my story dying? Last chapter was the poorest in regards to number of views.  
> Well doesn't matter I will continue regardless but seriously I expected at least some feedback regarding Nick and Judy.  
> I am telling you writing these chapters is hard. And I hope I was able to get another one right or that at least that this one was good.  
> Please give feedback wether or not I got Nick and Judy at least a little bit right.  
> I have been wondering wether or not I should write some oneshots. But then again I got my story to worry about.  
> And if this release took a little bit long, let's just say I had lots of new stories to read. There is so much content on this site it is amazing.  
> Now I have a request of my own: Please talk to me guys comments are what makes me happy and what motivates me.


	21. Get Going

“Really what did you find?”,came the question from Jessica.

Nick took a good look at the map before answering.

“I found some sort of city map that has been heavily modified. It may have something to do with the location of the bombs or their escape plan, but I cannot be sure.”

He heard Jessica sigh in relief, “that is great news! AS for the photographs you mailed, I sent them to central and they confirmed that these are most likely ciphered pages since they do not come from any know magazine out there.”

Nick could not help but grin, before a question rose up,”Jess?”

“Yes Nick?”

“Say, does central have any kind of idea if we could use these ciphered pages to determine who these criminals associate with?”

Jessica paused for a moment before answering,”Yes we could but we need to decipher them first and that could take time.”

Nick's ears lowered in disappointment, but he had not given up yet.

“I mean, I heard these stories at the precinct about the Guild using similar methods. Could they be involved in all of this?”

The effect of his words were immediate in the form of an audibly sharp inhale from the other side of the line. ”Yes, they do use those as well and they could be.” This statement was followed by another short pause from Jessica. “Do you have any other evidence that might point in that direction?”

Nick looked once more around the room before his eyes settled on the money.

“I found about thirty grand total in cash next to a handgun and the map I mentioned before, below the floorboards of the apartment. Does that help?”

More silence followed and he was sure he could hear Jessica whispering to someone else before she answered,”No not really. But I told the guys here and they told me that if these guys are affiliated with the guild then they would use guild ciphers. And if they use guild ciphers then we might be able to decipher these pages faster than anticipated since we have a database for that.”

Now Nick was a little confused,”wait I thought you said what I said does not really help. So why would they even try that?”

Jessica answered and he could feel her smile even over the distance,”well, I learned to trust your gut feelings a long time ago. _And_ , we kind of were just trying every cipher we could come up with. The most popular choices so to speak. So you just gave us a more specific starting point to work with and that can't really hurt.”

Nick had no idea how to decipher those pages and how many ciphers there possibly were so he had no idea if it would actually help. This thought though raised another question for him.

Judy had suggested the whole guild thing. And while he actually believed that she was trying to stop these criminals. He had no reason to believe that they were not, at least to some extent, connected to the FPM. Maybe this was her way to cover that up?

But then again if they received these letters from the FPM then she would not need to find and decipher them, so he realized that his thoughts on the matter made no real sense at all. That did not mean that he could be careless though.

“Alright, I will send you the map as soon as I hang up. Do you need me to do anything else?”

Another pause.

“Finish checking the apartment. And when you are finished there is actually one more thing you can do before we meet up.”

This peaked Nick's interest he would have thought that Jessica wanted to meet up right away. Still he replied in his smuggest possible voice. “Sure give me another task. We want this to be done by the best after all.”

He heard Jessica chuckle on the other end of the line before answering.”Great I will tell my superiors that you don't want the hard jobs because you want us to send better trained mammals to do them instead.”

Now it was Nick's turn to chuckle, “wow, that one was mean.”, he said in mock defeat.

And Jessica went on. “But for real, you can check up on your theory. If they work with the guild there is only one mammal they would go to for bombs. I will send you the data.”

This made Nick's collar feel tight. The Guild meant trouble, especially if confronted directly with the police. “Won't that be really dangerous?,”he asked with slight fear in his voice.

“Not really the guy you will talk to is an ex Guild member. We turned him years ago but he still has his connections which makes him really useful. Just get into some civilian clothes before you go to meet him. I in the meantime will pursue all our other leads while agent Hunter handles the hostage situation.”

“I can handle an informant. Just send me the address and I will get there.”,he replied dutifully.

“I will,” and with those words Jessica hung up on him and only about a minute later she had sent him a small file containing a picture, an address and some code phrases. He meanwhile sent the map over to her and turned back to Judy who dutifully waited for him to finish.

Once he did though he could see that she could barely contain her curiosity.

“ _So?_ ” She asked in a sing song voice, “what is going to happen now?”

He thought about the situation for a moment before answering,”we need to talk to an informant in order to test your Guild theory. And if it checks out then we will see how we go from there. Maybe we can find out what kind of bombs they use and how many they posses, that would be great.”

Judy seemed really happy about this as she hopped over towards the door of the room. When she reached it and he still had not moved she turned around and asked somewhat irritated,”why are you still standing there? Come on we got a city to save!”

And he could only grin,”you are right, Carrots! We got no time to spare, let's go.”

She frowned when he said Carrots and he just followed her out of the apartment with a smirk on his muzzle. Then they made their way over to his cruiser. And all the way he was watching Judy. The doe was younger than him that was for sure. She seemed to be really cheery too, and she certainly had some reservations about being near him, which was easy to spot by the distance she held to him at all times. But with him being a predator and her being prey he could not really blame her at all. Something else that he realized about the female lagomorph was that she was fast. Like really fast. And he wondered how his ancestors caught rabbits with them being as agile as she apparently was. She was basically running circles around him in excitement all the way to the cruiser. It was totally adorable. But he kept these thoughts to himself and his well trained poker face certainly helped with that.

Once they reached the cruiser though problems naturally arose.

“What do you mean I have to sit in the back?”,she asked somewhat infuriated.

Nick had not really expected that much resistance but in hindsight it made sense. She would be at his mercy once she as back there. Even without paw cuffs, since the back of the cruiser was designed to hold all sorts of mammals and make sure that they could not free themselves.

“Come on, if I wanted to arrest you I would have done so in the apartment. Do you really think I would use such underhanded tricks?”

The look he received from Judy was something between, yes of course and do you really think I am this stupid? And he almost laughed. It was just not fair that the small prey mammal just looked so cute regardless of her mood. He just could not take her rage seriously.

Naturally words followed looks and this lead to the following exchange.

“Of course I do not trust you! You said that you would arrest me after we are done yourself!”

“But Carrots. I also said that we got a truce.”

“For NOW! Who knows when you will change your mind, **officer**?”,she spat that last word. Almost like it was an insult and from her it certainly felt like one.

“So you are saying that I, an officer that protects the law! Am not trustworthy?”

She nodded, “Of course you are not trustworthy to me. YOU ARE A POLICE OFFICER! Do I need to spell it out to you why I can not trust _your kind_?”

That one as a solid hit as well.

“Carrots, I promise you that I will not arrest you now, because I am still in need of your help. I believed that this was simple because the FPM was supposed to be involved. But you showed me that things are not this simple and it makes sense to me that the FPM has nothing to gain from doing this. So I **need** your help as someone with a different perspective who can help me solve this mess!”

He paused for a moment to catch his breath while Judy looked at him somewhat conflicted. “Will you help me? Carrots, please?”

There was a moment of utter silence and even the city around them seemed to be a little bit quieter than before. And really took a moment before she answered by opening the back door and jumping into the cruiser, “fine. But stop calling me Carrots, it is demeaning.”

He closed the door for her and made his way over to the front of the cruiser before entering himself.

“So you want me to call you Fluff again?”

She groaned in defeat,”no! Carrots is fine.”

Nick nodded, “alright then Carrots,” he tasted the word victoriously on his tongue,”next stop is the precinct since I need to change into my civilian clothes.”

She looked at him like she was doubting his explanation but she did not say anything. So he started up the radio and made his way towards the precinct with a terrorists in tow.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:  
> So this took longer than normal and there are 3 reasons for that:  
> Number 1, I still suck at writing the Nick and Judy bits of my story and it takes really long to write short chapters like this. (If someone wants to be my co author by all means help me out![It can probably only increase the quality of this, whatever this is.])  
> Number 2, My sister had her birthday this week and I volunteered to take over ehr shifts at her job so she can celebrate and stuff liek that.  
> And Number 3, Rainbow 6 Siege brought out alpha packs. And while I was not really happy at first. Now I am hooked and on the hunt for those Legendary skins which is time consuming (I have a problem).
> 
> I am probably gonna switch perspective from Nick to Judy next chapter but maybe not. If you have any complaints voice them.


	22. Digital Doe

The drive to the police precinct was really uneventful. Well apart from the fact that he had never seen as many officers in the streets before. There were cruisers and patrols everywhere. No doubt looking for the bombs that threatened the citizens they had swore to protect. And it made him remember just how important finding every bit of evidence that they could was not only to him, but to every one of his colleagues and the citizens of this beautiful city he called home as well.

It put the whole matter back into perspective. Yes, this was one of these cases that no one ever really wants to have because they are horrible. But it also one of these cases that every police officer secretly wants to happen so that they can solve them. After all this was the kind of work that motivated mammals like Nick to be a police officer in the first place. This kind of feeling like you made the city safer for everyone.

That being said his more immediate task was to deal with the rabbit in the back of the cruiser first.

“So” he said as he parked the cruiser in the underground garage of precinct one, “I will go in and grab my clothes while you wait here.”

To his surprise there was no reaction but a nod from Judy who was currently typing furiously on her phone. She reacted when he opened the door though,”can you leave the radio on?”

She looked at him expectantly and he happily obliged.

He then closed the door and locked the cruiser, just for good measure, and made his way over towards the stairs that lead into the precinct.

The precinct itself was eerily empty inside. There was a skeleton crew working,yes, but it was obvious that something was amiss. This translated into the atmosphere of the building that now surrounded Nick, it was tense.

And he certainly did not like this feeling coming from the place that felt more like a home than his actual home, considering that he most likely had spent more time here then at his own apartment.

So he decided to go to the lockers room without even stopping at Clawhauser's desk.

 

 

**Meanwhile at an unknown location**

When Runa woke up she felt like her limbs were made out of lead. But her limbs did not seem to be the only thing that was suddenly made out of lead, her eyelids were just as heavy.

So she just stayed there. Where ever there was, it was hard to tell with her body feeling all numb and her eyes betraying her by refusing to open.

And she wondered, what had happened?

Where was she?

It certainly did not feel like the streets of Zootopia that was for sure.

Wait! How was she able to think that with such certainty. She could barely even discern where her legs started and where her torso ended. It was just that something felt off to her.

And after a moment of thinking she could pinpoint what exactly.

It was cold!

But it was not only cold it was damp as well.

Where was she?

She tried to think about this rationally, where had she been before she ended here?

She had been walking down the street after purchasing her groceries like always. Then she had felt weird and could not walk straight. Then she fell and everything after that was blank.

So she fell!

Did she hurt herself?

Was this a hospital?

Was she drugged?

Maybe that was the reason why she felt so heavy.

This thought eased her fear of the unknown around her.

But it faded quickly when her senses slowly returned to her.

It was cold and damp! Why would a hospital be cold and damp?

But that was not the only thing, she was able to open her eyes now slightly and thus reveal a concrete ceiling that was littered with rusty pipes, some of which seemed to leak fluids.

If this was a hospital it was the most horrible hospital she could imagine.

She tried to rationalize the situation. She was in a dark place that had a concrete ceiling and pipes. She was also feeling heavy and she had passed out in the street.

Thinking about the matter at paw like this made it painfully obvious that something was really wrong.

She slowly rose into a sitting position in order to watch her surroundings.

It made her feel nauseous but she just pushed through.

This was rewarded with a more thorough understanding of her situation.

It was not really wrong, it was really really bad!

She was sitting on a mattress that was lying on a concrete floor with little water puddles on it and the room also had matching concrete walls.

The room seemed to be in some kind of basement, at least that was the feel that it gave of.

Her field of view also showed her a steel door far bigger than she was. In fact she would have to jump in order to open the door. Next to the door on the ceiling was a camera and she had the sneaking suspicion that the door would be locked from the outside if she tried to open it.

Dread finally settled in once her mind had cleared and she had processed all the new information that was available to her.

She had been abducted!

 

 

**Back in the cruiser**

Judy was really unsure whether or not she could trust the fox. First she had only looked for a moment where he would drop his guard in order for her to escape, but then he had suggested the truce.

Now she was torn. It really seemed like this fox actually needed her help and was willing to understand her point of view.

But what if this had only been an elaborate plot in order to get her here?

No! That made no sense he had been right, he had beaten her back at the apartment when he got the jump on her. There was no doubt about it.

So she decided that she would wait and see what was going to happen next.

If worst came to worst she could always ask for reinforcements and/or escape on her own.

So she turned her attention back to her phone.

The chatter in one of their online communication services was nuts right now.

Everyone was coming up with plans to disprove the claims of the mammals in the diner that they belonged to the FPM. There were many crazy ideas.

One even involved sending in a team to free the hostages by force. Which was a real stupid idea. Since the team would not only need to breach the building and need to kill the hostage takers without them killing the hostages. They would also need to get through the police/ZIA/ZIS perimeter first and then find the bombs before they went off.

That was truly a stupid plan. And she could not help but chuckle at the thought of anyone actually trying that.

In reality, the fox catching her, might not have been so bad after all. Since it presented her with this one of at kind chance to actually save the city and clear the name of the FPM.

But to do that she first needed to find out who the actual culprit behind the attack was and what their angle was.

She was sure that it was some sort of enemy the FPM had made over the years, she just had no idea which one.

She had her suspicions though.

The top fice of her list of potential candidates were Senator Burchell himself, someone high ranking member/s of the Farm industry, maybe the Guild itself or Liska Hunter. All of them had the means to do it and the motive. But that also presented her with multiple problems. If Burchell was behind it all, there would be no way any evidence against him would ever see the light of day. At least not in this justice system.

The Guild would be the best suspect since they would not fight against the blame because they couldn't. Then there was the Farm industry which would be the jackpot,since exposing them would strengthen Ottertons position but just like with the Senator there was a chance that they would buy themselves out of the whole situation by manipulating the media and the evidence. Then there was Hunter, he was a problem in and out of himself because he was basically non existent at this point since the government declared his death years ago in order to cut their losses when they couldn't catch him after he had gone rouge. They wouldn't just let him resurface like that unless they had no other choice and he would probably prevent his involvement from being known by any means as well. At this point all she could do was speculate.

Her eyes went back to the screen. There was still a lot of chatter. But nothing that was of interest to her. No the message she wanted was not there.

No talk about deciphered codes or progress on the matter at all.

It was frustrating. She could only hope that this informant that the ZIS had provided was any good.

Time passed and she was just quietly humming along to the songs on the radio while communicating with her fellow agents all over the city streets. They had started looking for bombs as well, while also avoiding the cops which was really hard considering the sheer numbers of them on the streets at the current time.

Until now not a single bomb had been found, it was really discouraging.

But luckily not a single one had gone off either.

Judy was just wondering how long the fox was going to take when she heard the pins of the car doors shift upwards, unlocking the doors, not that she could open hers from the inside anyways.

This lead her to turn her head around in search of her red furred adversary.

And she found him.

He was casually walking towards the car.

His civilian outfit consisted of a green dress shirt and some brown slack pants. He looked dashing, for a fox.

Just as she finished sizing him up, he had reached the door of the cruiser and to her surprise he did not open the front door but the back one.

“Come on carrots we got to go.” He said while already making his way over to somewhere else, “close the door behind you.”

And so she did, she put away her phone, hopped out of car, closed the door with a kick and ran over to him.  
While she was running towards him he used the car keys to lock the cruiser once more.

Judy could not help but wonder where they were headed now. She had assumed that he would keep her in the cruiser as long as possible to keep the upper paw in their little situation.

But he didn't.

So she asked, “where are we going? Shouldn't we use the cruiser?”

Nick just looked at her funny while still walking at a rather fast pace,“why would I bother to change my clothes if I just roll up in a police cruiser anyways?,”he deadpanned.

That made sense and yes, she felt stupid for asking. And she felt even more stupid for not realizing this detail before asking.

They reached their new car, an old muscle car in red with a black stripe going all the way from the back to the front. It looked beautiful.

Nick smirked when he noticed her look and commented with a smirk,”you can sit in the front in this one.”

Considering that the car was a two seater she had no other choice. “Har har, very funny.”

Nick opened the door for her, “I got my moments.”

She went in and the interior was nice as well. Even though she could not help but notice the smell of the leather seats. It was a weird feeling but she had learned to block it out.

Once he had joined her in the car, he started up the engine and they made their way out of the precinct.

Meanwhile Judy had gone back to monitoring the chatter on her phone.

This time there was a message that interested her:

_'She has woken up.'_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So the RNG gods are with you guys, remember how I said I was not writing because I was hunting for legendary skins? Well as soon as I closed my browser after posting, and reading few chapters of other fics that updated, I started up my game, won a round and got an alpha pack. Said alpha pack contained a legendary charm. It is the ugliest item I have ever seen but it is a legendary so I went back to writing immediately after bragging to my teammates.  
> And after working at my job for the whole day today you got another chapter.


	23. Knowing Everyone

The fact that Runa had woken up was both great and bad for Judy.

It was great because that meant she was alright and Judy had not overdosed her. But it was also bad because Judy was not there to talk to her at the moment. This meant that now, Judy had a difficult decision to make. Should she give the order to leave Runa in her cell until she had the chance to go back or let someone else handle her.

It really strained her, just thinking about it. The longer Runa was locked away the more likely it was that she would be hostile towards the FPM, nobody liked being locked up after all. But letting someone else make first contact was dangerous as well.

The FPM needed intel, the kind only someone close to Hunter could provide and Runa was their best shot at this. Judy was sure that Runa would become a great ally once she had come to her senses, she was a strong rabbit like herself after all.

And while she was debating with herself about whether or not there was someone else suitable for the task of enlightening Runa about the mammals she had lived with for almost a year now, she did not notice that Nick had started glancing at her phone.

Which would not really be a problem since all that was currently visible on the screen was a news website. But she was startled when it prompted him to talk nevertheless. “So anything useful in the news?”

She instinctively turned her head to face him and replied immediately,”not really.” That was true there was not much on the news apart from reports about the continuing hostage situation and the sudden increase in police presence all over the city which was, officially, a counter measure to prevent other possible FPM activities in the city limits.

There were also interviews with Senator Burchell in which he played the poor victim that was so selfless and only worried about his supporters.

It made her sick. This damn painted dog was using this situation to his full advantage and nobody would notice. It would all strengthen his already strong position in the war for votes.

She really needed to find evidence that the FPM had been set up. If she didn't then Otterton would stand little to no chance at winning the election while promising to free prey.

That was not allowed to happen!

This line of thought brought her the certainty that she needed, Runa could wait.

And so she went ahead and sent the message back that she should be left alone until Judy's return.

With this out of the way she began to think about the matter at paw.

“Say, who is this informant that the agency gave you?”,she asked in order to be able to plan their next move.

“Well I would tell you more about him if I knew. But I only got the orders to go to the location mentioned in the file and ask about home security which will lead to me being introduced to the informant. And then I am supposed to ask him about buying white roses so he will know that I am with the ZIS.”

Judy's nose started to twitch, “so you have no idea who we are meeting? Are you even sure that he will be able to help us out?”

Nick nodded,”my sister told me that he is the only mammal to go to if these guys needed bombs. So if these guys really are part of the Guild then yes, this guy is our best bet.”

“Okay, if you say so. So what is the plan for us?”,she paused a moment and thought about the way she had phrased that before continuing, just to be sure that she was being clear.“I mean your informant expects you and only you. How do we handle that?”

Nick seemed to think for a moment before grinning,”well Carrots, it is actually really simple.”

 

**About 15 minutes later**

This was a bad idea! 

Judy knew that it was because it had dangerous implications.

But here she was sitting in wait for the main event to start. 

The place they had gone to was an electronics shop that looked like it had seen better days. 

It also seemed to be designed for a more specific crowd than the average mammal. There were circuit boards and wires all over the place. There were drones and she was pretty sure that she had seen a credit card skimmer somewhere. It really looked somewhat shady. She stuck with the plan and shadowed Nick who was walking just a short hop in front of her as he made his way towards the back of the store. 

In the back of the store there was a counter, said counter was manned by a brown bear with the name tag Larry H.

The next thing that happened caught Judy of guard. They were visiting a Guild front and she was tense, she fully expected these mammals to take both of them out if they made any wrong moves. And yet when Nick approached the counter the bear behind it broke into a warm smile,”Nick, buddy long time no see” and he made his way around the counter in order to give the much smaller vulpine, what seemed to be a bone crushing hug.

Nick smiled as well, “yeah Larry, I mean when was the last time we saw each other wasn't that in high school?” 

The bear nodded happily. “Good times back then, remember that one day where we filled the sprinkler system in the gym with paint and set it off during the principals speech?”

Nick looked at him with what could have only been a poker face,”we agreed that WE were never involved in this incident, remember?”

This caused Larry to laugh,”Oh yeah, I forgot mister goody two shoes cop wanted a clean record. That did not stop you from doing it though.”

Nick started to laugh as well,”no it certainly did not.”

It took a moment but the two settled back down and Larry asked,”so what brings you here buddy?”

Nick continued to smile while casually answering,”Well I was hoping you could tell me something about home security.”

Larry looked at Nick for a moment in stupor before answering,”Ehm...sure I will get the boss. Wait here for a moment.”

The bear made his way through a door behind the counter and suddenly they were left alone in the shop. And Judy felt tense. Nick knew this guy and yet she could not shake of the fear that this look that the bear had given Nick had inspired in her. He  **knew** that Nick was a cop. What if he told his boss and then said boss would be forced to get rid off them in order to maintain his cover as a double agent?

This fear was very real. And it was fed by the silence around them. 

How was this good damn store so quiet? She could literally hear Nick breathe. 

Wait why was she focusing on that?

She forced her ears behind her back in order to hide the embarrassed blush that formed on them. Only to notice that Nick seemed rather tense as well. He certainly hid it well but she could see his ears quiver as he forced them upright in order to maintain his poker face.

This was just as frightening to her as it was a relief. First of it was frightening since Nick seemed to feel the same way about the situation they were in but also a relief because she was not worried over nothing if Nick worried about the same thing.

A minute or two passed and Larry returned, “you can go right through the back he is waiting for you.” Was the only thing he said while he held the door open. 

It was only when he noticed Judy that he asked, “why is there a rabbit with you Nick?”

Judy flinched and her heart almost stopped. 

Nick meanwhile stopped in the middle of the doorway and said while gesturing at her,”oh, Carrots here? I was asked to bring her along so I did.”

Larry nodded,”If you say so.”

Once she was through the door and it closed behind them she let out a breath she had no idea she was holding. And relief washed over her.

The room that they were in was a storage room that had shelves upon shelves of electronics inside of it. It somehow looked even more chaotic than the store behind them. 

Nick went right ahead and walked down one of the aisles while she followed behind him.

It took them a moment to cross the room but they soon found another door that lead into another room. 

Nick stopped, he straightened himself and knocked at the door. So she readied herself as well.

A deep voice came from the other side of the door,”come in.”

And Nick opened the door without hesitation and went in, like before she was only a short distance behind him. The room they now entered was an office. It had bookshelves with folders and other documents in them as well as a big wooden desk,big enough for a bear, and a computer monitor perched on top of said desk. 

She saw no other mammal in the room, until a fennec fox in tan shorts and a black polo shirt with red highlights came from behind the desk. 

For a moment she thought this had to be a joke. She had certainly heard a very deep intimidating voice through the door and this small fox was even smaller than she was.

Not that she underestimated small mammals it was just odd, until he spoke.

“I will be damned it really is officer Nick motherfucking Wilde!”,his voice was unnaturally deep and he was still walking towards Nick,”patron saint of the pitiful. What brings your fluffy ass into my neck of the woods Nick?” 

Nick smiled and hugged the fennec fox when he was close enough,”just you Finn, just you.”

They separated and Finnick asked, “really?”

Nick nodded,”well I need to know where I can buy white roses you know.”

The fennec foxes mine went even grimmer, if that was at all possible. 

“Wow, so officer make the city a better place has finally sold out and went to the bureau. Never thought I would see the day!”, he then turned towards Judy, “and what is the story of fluffy flat tooth over there? Last time I checked the government did not hire grazers.”

She wanted to set the fennec fox straight, deep inside, but she decided not to push their luck and let Nick handle the situation.

And he did,”well Carrots over here,” she could not help but roll her eyes, ”is my FPM informant and I did not sell out! I am still with the ZPD I was just recruited by the ZIS to help solve this mess in the downtown area and that is why I am here.”

Finnick sighed,”alright, so you work on that FPM hostage scenario how the hell am I supposed to help with that? I mean as you dumbnut have probably already heard I am a Guild informant so ask your cute little bunny informant over there!”

Nick smiled,”oh I already have. And my cute little bunny informant”, she would kill them both after this,”told me that the mammals that we could identify are not part of the FPM but rather members of your organization Finnick! And since they have told us that they have planted bombs all over the city we have come to you for help.”

Finnick seemed somewhat confused before he asked,”what kind of bombs are we talking about?”

“No idea we just know that they have some we hoped to get that key information from you.”, Nick answered truthfully.

This caused Finnick to give a nod,”okay but you have pictures of the guys that I am supposed to know about right?”

Now it was Nick's turn to nod,”Yeah”, he got out his phone and showed Finnick some of the pictures,”This capybara here is called Nathaniel Rogers he is our current lead. Can you tell us anything about him?”

The fennec fox looked at the photograph intensely before saying,”Nate, yeah that guy is a total nut job. There aren't many prey mammals in the Guild but he certainly is among them. However his crew was about to fall apart so I do not understand why they would do something like this now.”

Nick pressed on,”so you know him and his crew. Do you know what kind of bombs they would use?”

“Nate came asking me about key cards and maintenance uniforms for the climate wall. And I know that they got an arsonist among their crew members who is known to make the best gasoline based incendiaries in the city. So I believe that if they attack something with bombs it will be the climate wall. Those damn grazers I knew that they could not be trusted!”

Judy's eyes widened as she stared at Finnick and she could not help herself when she said,”so you gave them key cards and uniforms to the climate wall? Why would you do that? You live in this city as well you stupid fox!”

Finnick looked at her with a smile,” this is my job little rabbit and like it or not I am god damn great at my job. Many criminals need access to the climate wall every now and then so I thought nothing about it when Nate asked me. Anyways if you guys really need to find all the bombs I suggest you start searching. These guys are always know to be very thorough.”

Nick nodded, “we would if you would help us out by narrowing our search radius down Finn.”

Finnick grumbled, “well I could but then I would have to give you copies of my access data and then I would have to get new access codes and key cards and those are expensive.”

“But if you don't I will have to report back to the bureau that you did not cooperate and then look for the bombs and I might not find all of them in time.”

Finnick's eyes widened considerably and his voice rose an octave, “you wouldn't do that to me Nicky boy, would you? I mean we were best friends in high school. Does that count for nothing in this day and age?”

Nick smiled,”sorry Finn but how did you word it so cleverly? I am the patron saint of the pitiful and as such I need to protect the city. And if you stand in my way then you have to go so just make this easy, for both of us.”

The fennec fox gave a heavy sigh and said,”fine I will give you the access data that they used. But do not mess this up.”

Judy felt relief with the access codes and the help of the ZIS it should be fairly easy to track down the movements of these mammals inside the climate walls. This meant that the bombs would likely be found. But there was another problem that had yet to be solved.

So she piped up, “We need a way to prove that these mammals were Guild operatives.”

Finnick turned back towards her, “and why would you need that fluffy butt?”

Before she could answer Nick leap to the rescue,”we need a way to prove this because we believe that someone is trying to manipulate the election and we need to prove that the FPM was not involved in order to provoke another move by that mammal.”

“Okay, there is a way. These grazers were involved in a kitnapping a few years back and the guild actually admitted to be involved if you can make that connection then you can prove this.”

This peeked Judy's interest,”and how would we prove this?”

Finnick smiled,”make the kitnapped mammal identify them and close two cases in one day.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So I had a little bit writers block but I think I managed to get over it. I still hate writing these Nick and Judy chapters because they are so damn hard to write since their characters are so good and it so hard to do them justice.  
> I finally reached 50k words though(without my notes) YAY! Never really thought I would get here but hey I mean I only need about 150kwords more(probably even more) so there we go.  
> I also am impressed that I got even more followers (you guys are the greatest).  
> I have been thinking about commissioning someone to make a cover for my story but I am currently somewhat broke so I might not manage to.  
> As always your thoughts are deeply appreciated so share them with me. Hey even just PM me if you want to.


	24. Better Hurry

Judy had been really happy. After all they had been getting somewhere now and clearing the name of the FPM in this matter did not seem to be too far away anymore.

They only needed to show some pictures to another mammal and get the statement of said mammal, nothing hard about that right?

Wrong!

The mammal that they were talking about wasn't just any kitnapping victim, no.

She was the Felicia Holz!

The same that had been all over the news all those years ago.

And Felicia being the daughter of Henry Holz was the heir to one of the most influential prey families in the city. The same family that had always been a friend of the system not only that but her family was one of the founding families of Zootopia. How the hell would they get close to her?

It would be hard for sure since her father had gone from caring to paranoid ever since she had been kitnapped.

But something about this bugged her. Felicia had been questioned after being freed, naturally by the ZIS and the news had reported that she had been taken by predators.

How did this all fit?

Maybe it had been a cover up by the ZIS?

But that made no sense either since they usually blamed prey, or more precisely the FPM in such cases.

Blaming preds was usually not their course of action.

But she was digressing, back to the matter at paw.

Which was getting in contact with Felicia.

They had already left Finnick's store and were back in the car, Nick had started talking to his superiors at the ZIS and started giving them the information that they had acquired.

But he did not move! He should ask about Felicia's whereabouts first and then give them the intel while driving! He was a god damn cop that was trying to stop a terrorist cell god dammit no one would stop him if he used his phone while he was driving!

But he didn't. Why didn't he?

Time was of the essence since they were dealing with bombs and hostage takers.

Then Nick's words peaked her interest.

“Don't worry I got this. Yes, I will tell them that Special Agent Hunter sent me and I will demand them to cooperate or face charges for obstruction of justice.”, wait what? Was Judy's initial thought. But she had no time to continue said though as Nick continued his conversation. “I said don't worry Jess. I am a professional police officer and I can handle this. What is that supposed to mean that is why you are worried? What why do you need to go? I still have some questions! HEY! WAIT!”

He looked at the phone dumbfounded while his ears sunk, “she hung up.” His statement sounded equal amounts sad and surprised.

And Judy could not help but leap in to help she did not like him when he looked down,”well I am sure that with all of this mess happening that she had other priorities than bantering with you and went back to helping the city. Which is what we should do as well! So?” She paused for dramatic effect and noticed that she had his full attention,” what is the plan?”

“Well, I was informed that Felicia and her body guards are currently in a shopping mall in the downtown area,”he said as he started up the car, finally,”so this is where we are headed.”

Judy nodded,”okay. Anything else?”

“Yep, I got permission to act in the name of the special agent in charge of this mission and therefore I can make arrests based on the accusation of obstruction of justice.”

Judy's eyes widened, “really? So that wasn't a joke?”, her head raced through all the different thoughts that came up regarding this issue but none of them stuck as she just waited for him to answer.

“Nope, Carrots, we were being totally honest then. So don't worry we got all the leverage we need to get her to talk with us and bring the right mammals to justice.”

It took a while until she had focused on what Nick had just said. Arresting someone for “obstruction of justice” was the most terrifying ability any high ranking ZIS agent had. It was their way of arresting whoever they wished even without any real reason to do so. There would be no trial, since the ZIS only dealt with threats to national security, which meant no lawyer either. No if you were unlucky it would mean that you wouldn't even go to a normal prison either but rather in a ZIS blacksite. This was the equivalent of throwing someone into a deep dark hole and then throwing away the keys.

The fact that Nick had been given such clearance just now was terrifying to her!

Had she misjudged him? She had thought that he was a reasonable mammal that wanted to do the right thing just as much as she did.

If this was not the case then...

“Hey, Carrots you looking a bit gloomy over there.”, his words snapped her back into reality like always and he proceeded to grab something from his pocket. Her mind being still in panic thought for a split second that it was a gun and that he would now betray her trust. But she was proven to be too cautious once more as he offered her some sweets,”blueberry gum?”

She gave a little sigh when she realized that Nick was still on her side and that she was being stupid. They had agreed to work together until this case was solved and she needed to trust him already.

Her mood lightened up and she smiled,“sure, unless you got something with carrots instead?”

He smirked, “sorry Carrots I do not like to promote cannibalism so blueberry will have to do.”

She did not realize what he was going for at first. Why cannibalism? But then she realized and all she could do was roll her eyes and grab the gum out of his paw. “Have you ever considered becoming a comedian Nick?”

He looked at her somewhat surprised by her question,”no not really.”

He wanted to continue but she cut him off,”good! For the first time with my life I have encountered something that might be worse than oppressing prey. So do the world a favor and don't consider it.”

He smirked,”awwww, Carrots are you jealous of my ability to make smart and witty jokes?”

She had just opened her mouth in order to set him straight when he took his chance to now cut her off,”you don't have to be. I am sure...”

A noise like thunder stopped her from hearing his next words while Nick brought the car to a screeching halt only for them both to see fire and smoke enveloping a small part of the climate wall in front of them. The fire looked rather small in the distance, but both of them knew that in order for the fire to be visible from this distance that the fire itself had to be huge.

They both looked at each other and Nick was the first one to speak. “Holy shit, we better hurry up.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> Do not worry! Nothing is wrong with me! I mean a lot is wrong with me I am writing a story about antropromorphic animals living in a dystopian society.  
> But I am okay otherwise. I made this short chapter now that I am back because while I was away someone actually PMed me and asked whether I was okay, which is really sweet. But I was jsut gone for a week since a friend of mine asked me wether I wanted to visit his family with him(I just said yes and hopped into his car). And so I went and visited Poland, the same area which (and this is a secret) I already knew from pictures that he showed me and which inspired me when I came up with the area where the criminals that Nick and Judy are trying to take down lived. It was really pretty(I like these old Block buildings they seem so cosy)  
> And while you are reading this I am already writing the next chapter which should come out soon so excuse the short chapter.


	25. Poor Little Beaver

The drive to the mall was intense to say the least. Nick's car had been modified with a light system that allowed him to use his own car as if it was a police cruiser.

That being said, he did still overdo it on the speed. Judy was sure at every corner that this was going to be the corner that they would not round completely and hit one of the buildings close to them. It also surprised her that they took back alleys and connection tunnels in order to get to their destination. She had long since given up on trying to figure out what kind of route this was and whether or not they were actually driving towards the downtown area. But then they reached the downtown area in record time and this was where the frustration began.

The city center was crowded and there was traffic everywhere and even with flashing lights and a police siren they were slowed down considerably.

The fact that they had mutually decided to stay silent during the whole duration of the drive after the explosion had happened was not really helping either. But still neither of them dared to speak in fear of thinking to much of what had happened. And she knew what was going on in Nick's head. She knew that he was blaming himself for not being faster and not preventing the explosion. She did the same after all even though they were not talking about it.

The questions were haunting her, had mammals died?

If so how many?

Had the climate wall been badly damaged?

If so then what would happen to the city now?

Zootopia depended on the climate wall in order to accommodate all these different species that called the city home so loosing that system would spell disaster.

But more importantly for her: What if the media blamed the FPM?

This would be a disaster and she had no idea whether or not the FPM could recover from such a blow in its current state.

It was vital that they found rock solid evidence that the FPM was not involved as soon as possible.

The car came to a stop just as she finished that thought, “alright Carrots let's go and find ourselves a beaver!”

Judy just nodded and they both exited the car and entered the mall before them. It was one of the better known malls for both predators and prey due to the fact that it was rather expensive and as such allowed only the “sophisticated” prey to be here. Which was a fancy way of saying that predators did not mind to be seen with prey as long as they belonged to one of the wealthy founding families or as long as they practiced one of the more desirable professions such as being a doctor or something similar.

“These damn hypocrites”,she cursed under her breath just quiet enough so that Nick could not hear her.

The inside of the mall was weirdly designed. There were separate walkways for predators and prey just like out on the streets but hardly anyone used them since the shops catered to both species anyways. More important was the layout that had lots of vertical play so to say.

There were multiple stories and the difference in the stories was that they got smaller the higher you went. Allowing big mammals like bears and such to remain on the ground floor while small mammals like rats and shrews would use the highest levels since they were perfectly sized for them.

This also made it easier to track certain mammals since it was unlikely that a shrew for example would shop on the lower floors in a shop that was designed for far larger mammals.

Which meant that they would need to look for Felicia on the middle floors where the smaller mammals like Nick and Judy herself would go as well.

This made the whole search thing a lot easier, if they had been looking for a mouse instead then this whole thing could have gotten real messy.

Because, seriously what kind of mammal would be dumb enough to endanger others by going into an area that was definitely not build to support the size of said mammal, she could not even imagine anyone in his or her right mind being that reckless.

So they went to the middle floors. The mammals there were predators and prey alike but both groups had one thing in common, they stared at Nick and Judy who were sticking as close together as they could so that neither of them would get lost. It was weird for Judy to get this much attention in the open like this since she normally tried to avoid being the center of attention, attention was the last thing that she as an FPM operative needed when out and about after all.

The mall itself was really pretty and the stores were bustling with life. What surprised her most though was the sheer amount of prey that were around since she always thought that prey were miserable wherever you went. But considering the fact that you needed a certain amount of wealth to even consider coming here made it very clear that there was a healthy amount of rich prey in the city as well.

It took them about ten minutes of just walking around to notice that they might needed to enter shops in order to find Felicia since she was not out in the open. And so they did.

Most of the stores were clothing stores or jewelry stores which made going into the latter as just the two of them rather awkward when other mammals started to notice them. One shop owner even called them out as being an affront to nature, obviously believing that they were some sort of interspecies couple, and wanted to throw them out of his store. He refrained from doing so however when Nick flashed his badge and explained that he was searching for a witness.

This lead to the owner of the shop to be actually helpful, who would have thought, when he revealed to them that Felicia had actually been in this shop and that she had talked about looking for new glasses after buying a necklace.

This made their job considerably easier since there was only one shop that would sell glasses to small sized mammals like Felicia.

And so they made their way over to that shop and surely enough Felicia and her bodyguards were there.

It was the first time that Judy ever actually saw Felicia, even though the news coverage back in the day had been huge, probably to give prey the illusion that the government actually cared about them, but this was only Judy's theory and she had no evidence for that.

Felicia was a pretty plain beaver and it showed in the way she was wearing her summer dress and her red thin framed glasses while talking to a store clerk. There was something special about her though and sadly so, it was not something desirable that set her apart from all the other beavers out there.

It was the fact that the remnants of her being abused by her captors were clearly visible to everyone. There was for example a thick scar running down the left side of her neck and snaking over towards the middle of her back in a wavy curve. Beavers normally had very thick fur and so the fact that after all this time the fur had not completely grown back and allowed the scar to remain barely visible meant that this had been one hell of a wound back in the day.

The second thing that was easily noticeable was the missing piece of tail that made her stick out like a sore thumb. It truly looked just like if a larger predator had taken a bite straight out of her tail and naturally it had never grown back, which left her with a considerable bite shaped hole in her tail. Judy really felt sorry for the poor girl. She hated the old prey families in the city for siding with their oppressors, yes. But that did not mean that this poor girl deserved to be scarred like this for life. She had done nothing wrong, it was not her fault that she had been born into this family and she had done nothing that was objectively bad that would warrant such cruelty from anyone. So Judy felt like she actually deserved her pity.

Another thing that Judy noticed right away was the fact that there was only one predator guarding Felicia, a tough looking badger with a huge scar on his forehead that went over his left eye which was so cloudy that it could only mean that he was blind on said left eye. He was openly carrying a gun and was wearing a three piece suit which, combined with his scar and his eye made him look like an action movie villain. The other two guards were some smaller kind of deer. They had no visible weapons except their antlers, which was normal since prey were not allowed to carry any form of weaponry, and despite being a smaller kind of deer, they both had to crouch in order to fit into the room which looked fairly uncomfortable and honestly pretty ridiculous. And she could see from the smirk on Nick's muzzle that he thought so as well.

They were wearing suits that fit the one the badger wore as well and naturally they were eyeing Nick and her with utmost suspicion.

It was Nick that ultimately broke the ice.

“Miss Holz?” This caused Felicia to turn away from the store clerk that had just presented her a new frame for her glasses that looked really similar to her old one and face Nick. Before he or she for that matter could say anything though they were interrupted as the badger stepped between them.

“May I inquire what your intentions towards our young mistress may be?”, he asked in a weathered voice that made him sound like a grizzly old movie villain even more.

Nick only smirked and answered,”you may.” He then took a few steps closer so that he was standing really close to the badger before him. “I am here because,” Nick reached into his pocket which made the badger go for his gun and point it at Nick faster than she had been able to even see, but Nick just keep his cool while he produced a badge from his pocket and showed it to the badger who now visually relaxed but still did not lower his gun for some reason.”I am Officer Nick Wilde and I was sent by the ZIS in order to question Miss Holz about the events of her kidnapping. Because we have reason to believe that the same mammals that were responsible for that incident are now involved in another incident. We also believe that the cooperation of Miss Holz is paramount to solving this case and therefore if you do not cooperate I have been authorized by my superiors to arrest you and Miss Holz for obstruction of justice in the name of special agent Hunter. And we both know that there is no coming back from that.” The badger faltered and lowered his gun and Nick walked past him in order to address Felicia.”So Miss Holz if you would come with us to a more secluded place.” He looked at the store clerk, ”maybe a backroom?” The clerk just nodded in response, clearly frightened by the prospect of possibly being arrested and Nick just turned back towards Felicia which looked at him quite frightened herself. So Nick continued with his professional routine,”since this case contains a lot of sensitive information that is not supposed to be available to the public yet.”

Felicia nodded and the fear was spelled all over her face while she fidgeted around with her paws too which was an obvious tell of her nervousness, not that anyone would need a tell to tell that she was nervous.

This lead to the store clerk leading them towards his counter or more precisely towards a door behind it. When Judy however started to follow Nick, she was stopped by the badger who put his paw on her shoulder with a grip that felt like her shoulder had been put into a steel clamp.”And where do you think you might be going?”

She saw that Nick wanted to jump in and help but she had an idea of her own, “I am his assistant.”, this made the badger look at her with suspicion.”Why would the ZIS or the ZPD employ you? They are not allowed to employ prey.”

She nodded,”not as an agent or a full time worker no. But we know that Miss Holz has had problems with predators ever since that...well...traumatizing event. And so they asked me to assist officer Wilde in order to reduce the stress for Miss Holz.”

The badger eyed her for a moment longer and then let her go. “Am I to believe that we,”he pointed at himself and the other guards, “are not allowed to be present when you and your assistant question our mistress?”

Nick nodded ,”yes that is correct. That does not mean that you can not guard the room though.”

The badger nodded in turn,”understood.”

And Nick vanished into the room that Felicia had already entered. With Judy following suit.

She really hoped that this conversation would be the breakthrough that they wanted, that they needed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So here it is the first half(?) of the next chapter.  
> I really wanted to go on but if I started to go past this point then the chapter would have been around 5k words long and I try to keep them to a max of 3k words. So the rest shall follow. And we will finally get some violence (YAY![I waited so long])  
> But splitting a chapter always means changing a chapter so this might not be two chapters but three or in case of another chapter that I wrote right at the beginning of this story 5, who knows.  
> And since I am on a roll I am going back to writing directly now.


	26. Therapy Bunny

The backroom of the shop was rather small and fitted with apparatuses that were probably linked to testing eyesight or similar tasks as far as Judy could guess.

There was a table in the middle of the room with an object on it that had a box like shape and an opening that was like a visor. It was at this same table that Felicia was now sitting while nervously glancing at Nick who was currently taking his place at the other side of the table with the object being between them.

Judy thought about the situation for a moment and decided that the best way to handle the problem at paw was to give Felicia confidence. And she tried to achieve this by taking the chair that was directly by her side. The chair was slightly to big for her though so she had to kneel in order to be at a reasonable height compared to Nick and Felicia.

Once everyone was sitting comfortably Nick took it upon himself to push the machine that was blocking his view to the side of the table, as far as he could without pushing it off.

The silence was slightly awkward and Judy could feel the suspense in the air. She could also see that Felicia was about to panic and started stroking her shoulder in an attempt to non verbally calm her down. And she was rewarded with a thankful expression from Felicia who seemed to snap out of her growing panic once she realized that Judy was beside her.

Nice, she thought to herself, now continue building her up and gaining her trust and this will be over faster than you can say case solved.

Meanwhile Nick had taken out his phone and placed it next to him on the table before starting the conversation.

“Miss Holz, thank you for being here.”,he wanted to continue but Felicia seemed to have won too much confidence and cut in, “you did not leave me much of a choice officer.”

And Judy winced, this might become a problem. Until she saw Nick's face. He was completely indifferent and she knew that this could only be a very good poker face.

And he just continued like nothing happened,”we need your cooperation in order to bring the savages that kitnapped you to justice.”

Felicia looked somewhat fearful once more and Judy wasn't sure whether it was because of Nick's indifference towards her statement or because he had mentioned her kitnappers, it was more likely the latter. There was a moment of silence where Nick just mustered Felicia before Judy stepped in,”Miss Holz, I haven't introduced myself yet but my name is Judy.”

Felicia turned around to her and seemed a little bit relieved once more,”Hi Judy, my name is Felicia. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Judy could not help but smile,”The pleasure is mine, Felicia. May I call you Felicia?”

The beaver in question just nodded happily. It was easy to see that this distraction meant a lot to her. Nick meanwhile just continued observing the situation from the other side of the table.

“So, Felicia, we are here because these mammals that kitnapped you are out there and they are hurting other mammals. We want to stop them but in order to do that we need you to identify them first.”

Felicia looked at her and Judy could see in her look that she felt somewhat betrayed. But she remained calm none the less, “why would you need me to identify them first? Didn't you say that they are out there hurting other mammals? Can those not testify against them?”

It was Nick that cut in at this point,”Felicia what are you so afraid of?”

Felicia who had apparently forgotten that Nick was even in the room was startled by his intervention more than anything else and just stared at him.

And he continued,”You are safe. You have been rescued and you have guards that are willing to protect you with their lives.”, he seemed to pause for dramatic effect,”why would you hesitate to give these monsters exactly what they deserve?”

Felicia just looked at him,”can't this just be over? I have been rescued and I am safe as you said. So why is there a need to go back?”

Judy raised a brow,”go back? We never said anything about going back.”

Now Felicia seemed desperate,”but you want me remember don't you?”

Ah, was all that Judy could think of. Yeah this seemed to be problematic.

It was Nick though that took the reigns once more,”I know this is hard for you. And I am not saying that I know what this is like for you. But I want you to know that you are safe here and that no one is going to harm you. And once you have told us what we want to know and once you have testified in court you can rest assured that we will never bother you again.”

And then something happened that even Judy had not anticipated when Felicia spoke.

“How can I be safe? When there are predators all around!”, her eyes teared up and her voice almost broke, “how can I be safe? When every one wants to eat me?”

She saw how Nick's poker face faltered and how his eyes widened considerably.

At the same time Felicia was heaving a breakdown as she finally managed to cry.

Judy knew that only she could fix this mess and so she went over to Nick.

Once she had reached his side she hopped onto the chair next to him in order to be able to see eye to eye with him. But he did not turn her way as he continued looking at the train wreck that was Felicia.

She leaned in close so that she could whisper into his ear in order to make sure that Felicia did not hear her talk. This was probably overkill since the young beaver girl was sobbing like mad.

When she leaned in she smelled Nick's scent and it surprised her how faint it was. She had always thought that Foxes had a very strong scent. Which meant that he was probably using a lot of musk mask. And yet she could still discern that earthy smell that he gave off.

She shook of those thoughts immediately though. Why did it matter to her how he smelled?

“Nick, I think I can fix this. All I need to do is talk her into talking to you. This might take a while though and I cannot have you in the room since you are the thing that she is afraid of.”

Nick turned to face her now which caused Judy to hop back a little when their muzzles almost touched due to the fact that she had been that close to his ear.

He mustered her for a moment before he answered,”alright Carrots, I guess this is your show now. I will go back to the others then.”

With that he stood up and made his way over towards the door. Leaving Judy and Felicia alone.

Alright Judy you got this! Girl talk you have always been terrible at that. But she had to try at least.

So she did the first thing that came to her mind and hopped onto the table. Felicia did not even notice and so Judy was forced to go the extra mile and walk over to her.

She then sat down on the edge of the table right in front of Felicia and used her right paw to lift up her chin and subsequently forcing the young beaver to look at her face.

This caused Felicia to stop crying and the two females just looked at each other for a moment before Judy broke the silence, “hey.”

Felicia took a deep breath and replied,”*sniff*,hey.”

Judy gave her the most sympathetic look she could muster when she continued,”so predators?”

Felicia nodded,”predators!”

Judy wondered for am moment how she was supposed to get the ball rolling then she settled for the easiest solution. “Why are you so afraid of predators?”

“Because they want to eat me, of course!”,Felicia looked at her like this was the most obvious thing in the universe.

Judy nodded,”yes predators eat prey,” she hated herself for saying this,”but that is nature. And they will only eat you after you have been culled, so there is no need to be afraid of them.”

Now Felicia seemed to get a little bit angry and she pulled away from Judy's paw by leaning back in her chair. But it was definitely better than her being sad,”tell that to my tail!”

Yeah, Judy thought that made sense.

“Yes I know that you have had a rough time with predators when you were kitnapped. But that does not mean that all predators are bad.”

These words seemed to make Felicia really uncomfortable as she moved her tail as much as it would bend so that she could hug it for comfort.

She did not dare to look at Judy directly and Judy went ahead and patted her on the head.

“Not all predators are bad Felicia. Nick certainly isn't.” Judy said in an attempt to steer the conversation in the right direction.

“How would you know that?”, Felicia asked. It was not as hostile as Judy thought it would be, it had a rather hopeful undertone as she finally dared to look into Judy's eyes again.

“Well,” Judy dragged that word while she was looking for the answer herself,”Nick is a good mammal at heart.” That was the answer wasn't it? But how could she be sure? She wasn't even sure herself why she was sure. She just knew that she could trust him to do the right thing.

Yeah, that was it. “I am sure that he is. I know that it can be hard to trust others. But you trust me, right? As a fellow prey I can say with one hundred percent certainty that even though this world seems really hostile at first and that predators are a large part as to why it feels that way. That predators are not generally evil, there are a lot of good ones among them as well.” It was at this moment that she remembered Sam and it stung in her heart. He had been the best predator that she had ever known, that much was certain. She shook of the sadness that threatened to take her over and pushed on. “Just as there are bad mammals among prey. Deep down you know that, right?”

Felicia nodded,”is this why he is here?”

Judy paused for a moment, it was clear that Felicia was referring to Nick but Judy had to push a little more. “Why he is here?”

Felicia seemed to gain a little more confidence as she straightened up a little, “the fox, is that why he is here?”

Judy played dumb once more,”what do you mean by 'that'?”

“Well, the whole bad prey mammal thing.”, she replied honestly.

Judy tilted her head a little,”I had always heard that you were taken by predators.”

Felicia gave her a confused look,”no! I was taken by these weird sheep and then given to these...”, her voice faltered,”...these...” Judy made a gesture that was supposed to encourage Felicia to go on and after she took a deep breath she did,”...these monsters.”

Tears welled up in the young beaver's eyes once more.

Judy nodded,”yes that is exactly why we are here.”

Felicia tried her best not to cry again, it was almost heartbreaking to watch, “okay.”

After Felicia's acknowledgment Judy pressed on,“And it is crucial that you help us out. Say, why are you afraid of predators but not prey if you were taken by sheep?”

Felicia grabbed her tail tighter and seemed to shrink a little,”because they treated me nice. They tried to make me as comfortable as they could before they gave me to...them.”

Judy was confused by this, if she was so easily able to remember the fact that she had been taken by prey instead of predators and then later given to predators, why had the ZIS not known this and passed this information on to the media?

If they had known then they could have easily used that information to make prey look just as bad the predators involved in this incident. So why didn't they?

“Say, did the ZIS say anything about those sheep when they questioned you?”

Felicia just looked at her even more confused than before, “I was never questioned by the ZIS. They sent me home to daddy right away and told us that they would come to us if they needed our cooperation.”

Now it was Judy's turn to look confused,”and they never came?”

Felicia shook her head,”no not until today.”

Judy was completely and utterly confused.

Why would the ZIS sent their key witness home without even questioning her?

Had there even been any real investigation?

And if there had not been any, what possible reason could they have had for this?

It made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

The ZIS was known to turn every god damn stone in order to solve a case. And it was common knowledge that they would completely dismantle any criminal organization as soon as they found a single weak spot. So them being this sloppy was something that did not fit the ZIS in any way.

She knew that she was missing something, something really important. Something that gave sense to this whole mess.

And part of her was furious, she feared the ZIS! And rightfully so, the ZIS was strong. And Judy knew that underestimating or belittling your enemy could only lead to death. So then why was this strong organization that had thwarted the FPM's plans on multiple occasions failing on such a basic level in this instance?

If they had not failed then this whole mess today would not have happened and many mammals would still be alive.

It really made no sense.

But Judy knew that she had to get back on track,”So you are afraid of my partner.”

Felicia only nodded.

Judy smirked, she had just found the answer to this problem,”but you are not afraid of your bodyguard. You know the scary looking badger?”

Felicia gave her a look that was confusing to Judy,”Thomas? NO! Of course I am not afraid of him,” and now she was giggling.

What the hell?

But Judy decided to ignore this and continued,”And why is that?”

“Because,” Felicia paused and seemed to be in deep thought,”because he...he is like me. And Thomas would never hurt me! I just know that.”

Judy smiled,”and I know that Nick would never hurt you either. Because he is a decent mammal. And you know what?”

Now Judy had Felicia on the hook and she knew it,”what?”

Judy's smile only grew bigger,”you don't need to trust Nick. All you need to do is feel safe so that you can talk to him right?”

Felicia nodded once more,”I guess.”

“What do you think would it help if Thomas was here when we talk about all of this?”

Felicia nodded,”Yeah I think that might work. Thomas always makes sure that the scary predators can't hurt me.”

Judy just continued smiling,”Great then I will go get them.”

She was just about to stand up when her ears picked up a commotion outside.

There was a roar like she had never heard before which was followed by screams.

What the hell?

Another roar and then there was the unmistakable sound of gunshots being fired in the front of the store followed by more screams.

Sweet cheese and crackers what the hell was going on?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So I wanted to get this chapter out yesterday. But like all good writers I got distracted and lost an entire day. ( I am so proud of myself[this felt like the hardest chapter I have ever written])  
> I said there would be violence and I also said this would be two parts long. Well apparently I lied to you and we are going to have to wait for violence until the next chapter.  
> Also if you like ideas like my shopping mall design and you look for ideas for setpieces or general things around Zootopia that would be different from our world, PM me and let's have a discussion I love coming up with stuff like that and maybe I can help you out.  
> Also also, I wanted to ask something important. I have been watching and reading lots and lots of stuff about how to write stories and creating characters. And I have to ask: Is Runa a likable character? I am not talking about her overall character wether it is good or not or wether or not she is weak or active in the plot. I mean is she likable as an idividual?
> 
> And now back to writing.


	27. Mad Mad Predators

Sweet cheese and crackers what the hell was going on?

Even Felicia had heard the gunshots and she had gone ahead and curled herself up in a ball beneath the table while Judy made her way over to the door which hid whatever terror caused the noises that filled the building in front of her.

There was the sound of gunshots once more accompanied by the now all present sound of screams and roars that made her fur stand on end.

She reached for the door and opened it.

What she saw behind it was not as bad as she had thought, Nick and Felicia's bodyguards were standing on the walkway in front of the store, their weapons aimed down into the rest of the mall while the clerk was hiding behind the counter.

From her point of view there was not much that she was able to see, but she got her first piece of information from the store clerk.

“Get down rabbit! The predators have gone mad! It is not safe out there!”

He looked really pathetic cowering behind the counter fear written all over his muzzle.

The predators had gone mad? What did he mean by that though?

Well the fastest way to find out was just going to the front and look for herself.

And so she did, she had almost reached the others when she heard the sound of breaking cement as something below them got completely demolished. Meanwhile Thomas yelled “GET BACK” and the others tried to make their way it into the store with haste. What followed happened in seconds. She heard an ear piercing roar from below and then she saw two brown paws grab onto the walkway from below. Giant paws that could only belong to a bear of sorts.

There was a cracking sound followed by a deeper crunching sound as this damaged piece of the walkway that was not designed to hold two deer, a badger, a fox and a bear gave in.

She saw Nick make a jump for the store but he was just a few centimeters short and thus disappeared from sight.

Judy just stared at the missing piece of walkway before the store.

Everybody was gone.

What had just happened?

Had this really just happened?

She made her way towards the edge and risked a look and what she saw was gruesome.

The entire bottom floor of the mall was filled with with mammals, that was nothing too special. But some of them, all predators as far as Judy could see, were down on all fours and they were violently attacking the other mammals and each other. This resulted in the floor being littered with blood and corpses, some of the mad predators were even sitting there feeding on the mammals that they had taken down. Prey and predators alike were in panic because of this and tried to escape only to run into the paws of another mad predator.

She also saw the others below, they were lying in the rubble and she had no idea whether they were still alive or not. Nick had landed atop of the bear which might have broken his fall but she could not be sure since there was debris all over the place that he could have landed on anyways.

She held her breath when she saw the bear move.

How could he have survived this?

He had the entire walkway come down on him!

It was clear from his slow movements that he was hurt badly and yet he heaved himself up on all fours while Nick and the debris that had been covering him fell to the floor beneath him.

It was this motion of Nick falling that made the bear notice him as well.

And just as he slowly turned to face the unconscious fox he was distracted by something else.

By Thomas, the tough looking badger was now covered in blood from a head wound he had sustained from the fall, but that did not stop him from grabbing Nick's pistol that was lying close to him atop the debris and opening fire onto the bear.

The bear yelped in pain and rushed forward towards the badger that kept on firing.

Then there was the telltale clicking sound that told her the he was out.

But the damage that the bear had sustained plus the shots from Thomas seemed to be enough since the bear finally fell. But he still slid forward with enormous force and hit the badger dead center, carrying him out of her field of view and judging from the sound, crushing him against the storefront below her.

She just stared as the destruction around her continued.

Why was this happening?

It was like a scene from a horror movie. There was lots of them out there where mammals found tribes of savage mammals in the wild somewhere and got hunted and eaten by them. But even these had some sort of intellect.

These mammals seemed to have lost all their intelligence to blind rage.

They were like true savages.

Judy shook her head rapidly.

“Get a grip, Judy!”,she told herself,”if you don't do something no one will.”

She glanced around. There was a part of the walkway that was still intact in front of the store, the only problem being it was not in front of the door. So she went ahead and took a look around the room. Once she had identified an object small enough for her to carry but heavy enough to throw, she grabbed it and went back towards the storefront. And with a powerful throw she...did not even dent the security glass of the storefront.

Alright new plan! But first damage control.

Judy made her way back towards Felicia, she passed the store clerk and she was pretty sure she heard him crying but she just ignored him. Once in the room she searched for the female beaver. But she was not under the table anymore. She looked around the room but Felicia was nowhere to be found.

“Felicia?! Where are you?” Judy called out. And surely enough she got an answer,”I am here.” Felicia's voice was muffled and even though it was muffled one could hear that she was crying. Judy made her way over towards the area that the voice had come from an realized that she was sitting in one of the closets before her.

“Felicia, I am going out there in order to find a way out. I need you to stay here where you are safe, okay?” She heard a muffled,”okay” as her answer and made her way back into the front of the store.

Good, now that that was taken care off she needed to get through the glass. But how? And then it dawned on her, she would have to use her last resort early. She sighed and grabbed the derringer that was hidden beneath her clothes. Two shots now and four spares in her pocket that was all she had.

She took aim, and fired. The small gun was still very loud but the glass had now two holes in it, even though they were not big enough for her to fit through. So she grabbed her heavy little object,one of the numerous apparatuses throughout the store and threw it against the new weak spot. This time there was a shattering sound and the apparatus landed on the walkway behind the glass.

She took a moment to reload her gun and secure it back beneath her clothes, before she jumped out onto the walkway before her. The walkway was eerily empty. And when she moved she saw why.

Most of the mammals were holed up in stores at this point while the mad predators were trying to get in. Some stores had shutters that protected them very well while others remained open. She also came across a store with a weasel inside that had just murdered what seemed to be his family and was now feeding upon their corpses. A shiver ran down her spine when she saw the gruesome scene. She had seen so much horrible things but cannibalism was something she had never seen before and it filled her with disgust. She was just sneaking past the store when a noise inside the store startled the weasel. Her heart was pounding like mad when the weasel almost turned her way. Then there was another noise and the predators head flicked towards the origin of said noise and then it disappeared deeper into the store. She pushed on, but she still heard the screams of the mammal that had made the noise. She must have passed another seven stores when suddenly a wolf appeared on the walkway before her. His fur was light gray, it was displayed due to the fact that he had apparently ripped off most of his own clothes and like all the mad predators he was walking on all fours. She froze and he froze. For a moment they just scanned each other, but that moment just lasted a second and the larger predator sprinted towards his newfound prey, her.

Judy stayed as calm as she could, she knew that she could not escape this wolf up here. So she waited for him to pounce. When he did the world seemed to move in slow motion for her as the adrenaline was pumping through her veins. She let herself fall flat to the ground, causing the wolf to go over her instead. She readied herself and when he was right atop of her she kicked him in the stomach with both legs and as hard as she could.

The wolf made a whining noise when he was catapulted upwards a little while the momentum from the sprint carried him a bit further away from her. He hit the ground with his side and stayed there for a moment. And Judy used that moment to run. Her escape was cut short though when she was stopped dead in her tracks by another wolf, a female. She was not as big as the male from before and she had a wound on her side that colored her white fur red. The wound did not seem to be very deep but it was still there. But what was more disturbing than her wound was her muzzle. Due to the fact that her fur was white, the crimson color of the blood on her muzzle stood out all the more.

The female growled and got ready to pounce, Judy turned her head a little and saw the other wolf behind her in the corner of her vision. She was trapped!

She glanced to the side and she knew that this was her only chance. She darted to the side, jumped onto the railing of the walkway and pushed herself off.

The fall short and she felt the cold embrace of the water beneath her. She somehow managed to direct most of her force forward and so she crashed into the other side of the water fountain headfirst. She was really disoriented but she was able to grab onto the outer wall of the fountain and pull herself above the water. The first thing she did was gasp for air and the second thing was looking up towards the walkway she had come from. And there she saw the two wolves as they were rolling over the ground while biting and clawing each other. From the looks of it the female seemed to be loosing, but the white color of her fur might just have been exaggerating the the size of her wounds.

Anyways Judy was happy not to be up there anymore or at least she was until she looked around.

The lowest floor of the mall was a battlefield, there were dead mammals all over the place and large predators were attacking those that were still alive and each other.

Judy turned her head and saw the part of the mall where the walkway had come down. And for a moment there she wondered whether she should just abandon Nick and Felicia in order to save herself. But no, if she did that then she would be no better than these good for nothing predators up there in the government. She pulled herself out of the water and dropped onto the floor next to the fountain, only to slip and fall. First she though that she had slipped because she was wet and her paws therefore slippery, but then she saw what she had slipped on.

Before Judy was a dead moose that was lying against the fountain and it was half eaten by whatever was big enough to take down a moose with a single bite. Now what Judy had slipped on and slipped into was the blood puddle that surrounded the dead mammal.

“Dammit!”, she cursed silently. Now she was covered in blood and that could only be bad for her in a room full of predators that tried to kill anything in their path.

But she had to go on regardless. She scanned her surroundings and mapped out the best path towards Nick and the others. There were too many predators in the area but all of them were either fighting someone or eating at the moment so she just sprinted right down the middle of the mall. She knew that this made her the most visible but the predators were all at the side of the room since the other mammals had tried to hide or were trying to hide inside the stores. Her plan went really well, until she was about ten meters away from her destination. Out from the corner of her eye she saw a polar bear whose head and throat where crimson red like he had bathed it in blood. And said bear was now following her!

She was faster, naturally, but that meant she still had to loose this bear. So she decided to sprint past her goal. And she lost the polar bear, but not in a way that she had anticipated. One of the deer bodyguards was up and he was tumbling around, it was clear that he had a heavy concussion since he looked like he was really drunk and had no awareness of his surroundings whatsoever. The polar bear saw him as well and changed his target. Judy used this change in target to sprint past and into the debris. Judy found Nick immediately as he was still lying where he had been when she had been looking from above.

Her heart stopped for a moment, what if he was dead?

What if she had risked her life for nothing?

She went closer put a paw on his chest, she let out a relieved sigh when she realized that he was breathing. She heard the sound of breaking bones from where the deer had been and she knew that this was not the time to be relieved so she grabbed Nick by the paws and dragged him towards the store while begging the gods above that the bear would not turn around right now. Her goal was the store that the brown bear had crashed into, since the shutters were lowered it would be safe and thanks to the bear crashing into the shutter full throttle it had a sizable dent in it. A dent that would make it possible to crawl through underneath at least for mammals as small as Nick and herself.

So she continued to drag Nick towards the store. And when she finally reached it she crawled inside while still not letting go of Nick's paws. The inside of the store was dark and to her surprise there was no one inside. She turned back towards Nick only for her eyes to widen in horror. The bear had noticed them. So she pulled as hard as she could while the bear ran towards them. And she barely made it, with all her strength she managed to pull Nick inside the store just before the bear hit the shutter with a laud thumping noise. The shutter bent once more but it did not give. The dent in the shutter had increased in size though and the bear used this to shove his bloodied paw through. Judy panicked and jumped onto the paw that was reaching for Nick in order to use her full body weight against it, with only little effect but she managed to make the bear pull back for a moment. She grabbed Nick once more and pulled him deeper into the store where she collapsed from exhaustion.

Damn this was going to be a nightmare she thought while the polar bear was hammering against the shutter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Auhors Note:
> 
> So there we go another chapert for you. Finally we get to the violence part so enjoy this first chapter of Nick and Judy being stuck in the mall.  
> And I hit 2000 views on FF.net (yay for me)  
> I usually have so much to write about but this time I don't, alright back to writing.


	28. Doctor Carrots

When Nick came to, he felt like he had been hit with a sledgehammer.

Wait, that was almost accurate wasn't it? After all the last thing he remembered was that one of the mad predators, a bear, had charged against the support column beneath them before latching onto the walkway itself which in turn caused the floor beneath them to give in and then resulted in all of them plunging towards the ground floor.

Nick was snapped back to the present by a loud banging sound like if someone was hitting a metal surface with a bat. Why?

He opened his eyes with a groan. When he finally managed to look around he saw that he was inside of a clothing store meant for mammals much larger than himself. Even though still dizzy he tried to sit himself up which resulted in two small paws pushing him back down.

“Stay down for a little longer and rest up. I don't want you to throw up all over the place.” Oh yeah, Judy was here. But wait!

How did she get down here?

And when?

And where were they exactly?

And what did she mean throw up all over the place? He could handle being a little dizzy. It was not like he had never had a hangover. He had several, some would even say too many, during his teenage years.

He tried to get up again. This time she did not stop him. Once he was in a sitting position however he felt incredibly nauseous.

So nauseous in fact that he threw up all over the place. He managed to lean to the side though, meaning that he at the very least did not puke onto his own legs or tail.

“See? I told you getting up was not a good idea.”, of course Judy would go for the low hanging fruit of I told you so. Could his heroic sacrifice of dignity not at the very least be honored?

He at the very least tried to get up so that he could protect her from the danger that was no doubt lurking all around.

Once he had finished loosing his lunch all over the floor he rolled onto his back and filled his lungs with some well needed oxygen with short labored breaths.

He turned his head to the side in order to look at Judy who was still kneeling next to him. She was covered in blood. However she was too calm for it to hers. After all if she had lost such a huge amount of blood she would be in even worse shape than he was. So he deducted that she was fine.

He pondered for a moment whether or not he should try to get up once more.

But in the end he decided to heed Judy's advice when he felt his body rebelling against the mere though of getting up once more,“you know Carrots I might settle for lying down just a little bit longer.”

Judy smirked, “I thought so.”

Nick returned a weak smile of his own,”So what is the diagnosis doc? Will I ever be able to do synchronized swimming again?”

Judy broke into laughter immediately and replied once she had settled down a little bit,”Well sir I believe that you will live. You seem to have a concussion though, as for synchronized swimming. I believe you will never be able to do that again. Not because of your injury, but because I would die laughing if I happened to witness it and therefore I can not allow it.”

The battering noise let up a little and Nick relaxed a bit more,”Damn, now I won't win the Zootopia championships in synchronized swimming it has always been my dream ever since I have been a little fox. But we can't very well risk your life doctor Carrots.“

This made her giggle, “the Zootopia championships in synchronized swimming?”

Nick closed his eyes still grinning, talking was getting harder but it took his tension away so he continued,”hey they might exist I have heard of stranger things in this big city of ours.”

“Hmm,”she giggled once again,”I can only imagine a bunch of otters doing that as an actual sport and then there is you flopping along in the water like an idiot while they are in perfect sync.”

“Hey Carrots, I am offended!Did you just assume that this handsome fox can not win the synchronized swimming championships because I am not an aquatic mammal?”

She laughed once more and he went for the killing blow,”it shall be a Rocky like story! My heroic rise to fame and success. I shall also play myself in the film adaptation of my life story.” He could hear Judy collapse onto the floor next to him while laughing uncontrollably. “Can you imagine? What a film! The story of best cop in Zootopia as he leads his double life as a famous synchronized swimmer!”

Nick felt more tired with every word that left his mouth. It felt strange to him, it was not this normal kind of sleepy. It was more like his mind and his senses were being covered in cotton.

Judy seemed to realize that he was slowly fading away.

“Go sleep Nick, I will wake you in an hour. And then we try to get out of here.”

His entire body felt so heavy and yet he still managed to find a response,”but...aren't...there...predators...around?”

He felt a paw gently stroke the top of his head, just between his ears and he eased into the comfort of the touch”sleeping will help you get better. We cannot outrun mad predators if you throw up whenever standing up straight.”

And while she caressed the top of his head he was embraced by darkness.

 

Judy stopped petting Nick at little while longer after she knew that he was asleep, just to make sure that he did not wake up again. She had learned this trick from Sam, this time the though of her friend filled her with equal amounts of happiness and sadness when she remembered back to those simpler days. He had been wounded after a mission and had trouble sleeping. So she had asked him if she could help him somehow. He then asked her to stroke the spot between his ears, and he went on to tell her that his mother had always done that for him as a kid whenever he could not sleep like after watching a scary movie. At the end of his story he had faded of to sleep. Her heart felt heavy when remembering these happier times. It was such a sweet memory. And she was glad that it had worked on Nick as well. She really needed him to recover fast. Because even though the polar bear seemed to have given up. She tried to use her phone once more to contact her comrades or get any kind of information on what was going on. For all she knew this could be happening all over the city. But just like the other times she had tried while Nick had been out cold she was not able to get a signal.

It felt strange to her and her instincts told her that this mess was far from over.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> To think like the fox you gotta be the fox I say as I eat half a kilogram of blueberries together with my pet parrot while I wrote this.  
> So I did a little chapter again. I usually don't like making chapters that are this short, but this one really felt good to write. I tried to fluff things up a little bit I might have managed to do that I might have not who knows? But it is a nice bonding moment for our favorite pair.  
> I just had to write this when I had the idea so I did. Don't worry violence shall follow.
> 
> Funny story, I actually had multiple concussions during my childhood and I am justifying Nick's actions in the following chapter/s with my personal experience.  
> But for your amusement I shall offer up a story of one time I got a concussion.  
> So I was in school and we were having PE lessons and we were playing soccer outside on a real field.  
> So I was the goalkeeper and it had rained just before the lesson started and the grass was still really wet.  
> While on the offense one of my classmates was sprinting towards the goal and could not stop anymore and tackled me against the goalpost headfirst.  
> I stood up though an shrugged it off(I was just bleeding a little), played another 25 minutes before I realized that I could not walk straight anymore(maybe because I was just standing most of the time).  
> And when the lesson was over and everyone went back into the locker room I realized that I had no idea where the locker room was. Even though I had been at this school for 7 years. And the god damn building was right next to the field.  
> The teacher realized this when he saw me stumbling around the field and sent me to the local doctor and I threw up on the way there.  
> And he was like damn that seems bad and sent me directly to the hospital where I stayed for about a week.  
> The doctor there could not believe that I had finished playing the rest of the game before being sent to him since I had a very bad concussion. I am wierdly proud of that.  
> So all this comes from personal experience(exept the savage predators in a mall trying to kill everyone part[that may or may not be made up]).


	29. Tiptoe through the Nighthowlers

When Nick woke up, he felt really well for someone who had almost plunged to his death. And he had to wonder, where was he?

The first thing he noticed was Judy. She was trying to shake him awake and now that it had worked she went back into a kneeling position next to him. How did she get here?

Wasn't she up in the store with Felicia?

He had a strange feeling of deja vu and everything came back into focus when she finally spoke. “Glad to see that you are finally awake. Are you feeling better now?”

He remembered, even though his memory was a little bit hazy, Judy had saved him somehow and he was now in a store. He had been suffering from the damage he sustained during his fall and he had likely gotten a severe concussion.

And yet, while he felt somewhat dizzy, he felt relatively well.

“I think I am.”,he replied while trying to sit himself up.

Judy aided him with her paws and smiled,”good because we need to get Felicia, she has been on her own this whole time.”

That was true, he had no idea how much time had passed since he fell but he was sure that Felicia needed their help.

Poor little beaver.

He stood up and immediately regretted his decision when he almost fell straight over. But Judy was there to steady him “whoa easy there Nick” and after standing for a minute or so he managed to stand straight on his own accord. Even though he felt wobbly on his paws at best. And he entertained the thought for a moment to do like kits sometimes do and go on all fours to get better balance. But with all these savage monsters around he abandoned the thought as fast as it came. If there was a rescue team somewhere he had no intention of being misinterpreted as one of these monsters by them.

Judy shot him another concerned look before she made her way over to what seemed to be the front of the store.

There was a metal shutter there that had definitely seen better days as it was deformed quite spectacular at the bottom and had huge dents all over.

Judy went ahead and knelled down in order to stick her head through the big hole that was the biggest dent at the bottom of the shutter.

She then nodded and gestured Nick to follow her while she made her way through the hole.

Nick took a deep breath before he knelled down and crawled through the hole as well. His head seemed to like the idea of being so close to the floor though since he felt much less nauseous and much safer on his paws than when he was standing.

Judy had meanwhile made her way over to the pile of rubble that was laying on the ground before the store.

So this was the store right beneath the point where they had fallen down, that made sense.

The first thing that Nick realized then he was back on his paws standing up was the fact that the whole area reeked of blood,sweat and death. And he noticed that it came from the right where Felicia's badger guard had been crushed into the shutter by the brown bear that had caused the walkway to collapse in the first place. Nick was sure that from the way that his body was deformed that most of the bones in his body were broken at this point. The bear meanwhile had a huge wound on it's side that looked like another big predator had eaten part of it.

Judy seemed to have found whatever she was looking as she fished something out of the rubble at that moment. And Nick decided to wobble closer to her.

What he saw in her paws was his gun, it was empty which was weird since he had reloaded it just before he had fallen down. And she turned around and handed it to him.

He was just about to say something when she put her finger over her lips in the universal symbol for 'be quiet!'.

Nick just nodded and reloaded his gun. It went far easier than he had expected but the action was completed without even thinking about it thanks to his muscle memory.

Judy meanwhile had scanned the rest of the mall while he had reloaded his gun and seemed to have decided on a course of action.

She beckoned him closer with a wave of her paw and whispered,”be as quiet as you possibly can. I have seen four big predators on this floor and none of them are currently out in the open they are all hiding in the stores. Our safest route is the right side and then up the stairs. Think you can manage that?”

Nick just nodded, even though he was not really sure if he would be able to.

Judy took that as the only sign needed to start sneaking off towards their destination with Nick following close behind. It was really hard for him to even walk in a straight line but he managed by leaning onto the columns, that supported the walkway above them, every now and then.

Their sneaking seemed to truly be the best course of action. Nick had spotted some of the big predators as well and they were all hiding in stores either literally licking their wounds or feeding upon the corpses of some poor mammal that had been caught, it was terrifying.

The worst moment was when they reached the stairs though,Nick almost had a heart attack!

In the store next to the stairs was a lion who had his back turned to them while they passed. He was the closest predator to them on their entire route. And just as they passed him there was this load cracking noise as the big predator before them crushed the bones of his dead prey just a few meters away from them.

But he did not turn around.

When they reached the next floor things got a little more complicated.

The floors got more narrow the higher up you went. And the walkways were the only way of crossing the floor itself and in this case they were just big enough for about four medium sized mammals to walk side by side. Which made them a perfect bottleneck for any predator willing to ambush them from the side.

Judy seemed to have a plan though, she always peeked around the corner of every shop and checked it for mad predators.

Sometimes even survivors, but they tried to avoid both by crawling below the glass of the shop windows every time they saw another mammal.

It was not the fastest method of travel but it was a relatively safe option.

The other alternative was walking by and potentially fighting the mammals within or having the mammals within call out to them. Either option was noisy and therefore really bad.

When they reached the store Nick felt like he had run a few miles instead of walking and crawling all the way.

He definitely needed to go to a hospital after all of this.

Now they were presented with a new problem though, how should they get into the store?

Nick saw that the glass was shattered on the other side of the store but on their side the glass was still intact and there was virtually nothing left of the walkway.

Shattering the glass was not an option since this would most definitely wake the curiosity of every mad predator in the area.

And Judy beckoned him to get closer once more,”do you think you can catch me?”

Nick almost yelled but he managed to catch himself before doing it and instead whispered, “WHAT?! Why would I catch you?”

“I think I can make this jump from here with a little bit of a head start but I won't be able to jump back. Hence do you think you could catch me if I jumped back?”

“That is a terrible idea carrots! What if I get attacked while you are in there and how is Felicia supposed to get out?”

Judy pondered for a moment,”then how do you propose that we both get in?”

Nick looked at the problem before him, there was a huge hole in the ground and it had a jagged edge. Wait a moment, a jagged edge!

This was an idea that was just as bad as hers but at least it meant that they both would be in the store by the end of it.

“I can climb to the entrance of the store.”, he exclaimed happily even though he was not really sure if would manage to in his current condition at all.

Judy looked at him like he had just proposed to grow another head and maybe she was right to do so,”how would you do that you can't even stand straight?”

“Well we got trained to overcome many obstacles in the academy and that includes climbing. I tell you Major Friedkin made us run that damn course until we could do it in our sleep."

Judy looked at him with concern,"are you sure? I don't think I can get out of here on my own without your help."

Nick nodded and steeled his resolve,"Yeah I think I can do it.", he whispered confidently.

Judy nodded,"alright you go first."

Nick, now sitting at the edge of what had been once walkway, was having second thoughts about his decision.

What he planed on doing was using the jagged edge that was still there to climb and swing over to the shop entrance it was not that great of a distance but it was certainly dangerous.

What if the jagged edge was too brittle to hold his weight?

Come one Nick, his inner voice challanged him, you trained for this! Succeed or die trying!

And he grabbed the first edge and lowered himself down.

His head was protesting but he just pushed through.

Judy meanwhile had only two kinds of looks on her face, concern and fear.

Nick looked at her for a moment before he nodded finally lost the solid ground beneath him, now only hanging from both of his front paws. He used his hindpaws to stabalize himself through pushing them against the wall beneath him. Which just so happened to be the shutter of the shop below.

He took a deep breath and moved his first right paw over to the next edge, he grabbed, and it did not break off.

Alright now follow with the left!

Done.

Now the right again!

Perfect.

When he went to follow up with his left paw though he slipped and almost fell. He could her Judy gasp but he managed to catch himself. He looked down though and his head punished him for doing so. The world seemed to be rotating, but he could not stop now he mananged to grab another ledge and carried on.

He was tense but he was almost there.

He grabbed the next ledge with his right paw and it supported his weight. There it was the entrance to the shop all he had to do was bring his left paw closer so that he could pull himself up.

So he did and the ledge he had been holding onto with his right paw collapsed now that it was holding his entire bodyweight.

For a moment he fell but his left paw was still in motion and it managed to grab another ledge, a jolt went through his entire body when he stopped falling but he managed to get his right paw back up and pull himself into the store.

There he rolled onto his back and finally relaxed, he really needed it.

He rolled back over to look what Judy was doing now and saw that she had taken a few steps back and was about to sprint and jump.

And just as she did he saw one glaring issue, she was a few centimeters short!

He rolled to the edge and held out his paw as fast as he could.

He felt another jolt of energy go through his body when Judy latched onto him desperately trying to hold on. And she almost pulled him of the edge with all the momentum that she had, but he managed to pull her up.

Once inside they were both lying on the floor recovering from their near death expiriences.

It was Judy that spoke first, "thanks Nick, for saving me."

Nick could not help but smile,even though he felt like throwing up once more,"no problem Carrots, saving lives is kind of my job."

He could practically hear her rolling her eyes,"say that to all the poor prey out there."

Nick sighed, "I am not in the shape to have that kind of converation Carrots. So could we please not?"

He turned his head so that he could see her and she nodded.

They stayed there for about five minutes before they stood up again.

They had a beaver to save after all.

Like always Judy was on her paws first and made her way over to the backroom behind the counter while Nick followed close behind.

When she opened the door Nick realized something, something important.

There was this scent of wolf all over the place that had not been here before, and when Judy opened the door he knew why it was so important!

The smell of blood seemed to leak out of the room before them like cloud of heavy perfume.

It filled his nostrills and he knew that Judy could smell it too.

But before he could say something he saw the source of the scent.

In the room was a timberwolf covered in blood from head to toe. He had just been feeding on a mutilated corpse but when they opened the door he turned his head and looked at them with savage mad eyes.

And Nick knew that they had a problem.

The wolf dashed towards them and Judy dove into the room while Nick evaded to the side. The wolf went over Judy and landed next to Nick behind the counter. He then readied himself for another dash right into Nick face while Nick desperately tried to find a way to dodge.

His brain was still working slowly though and the larger predator managed to jump directly at him with his maw wide open.

Nick instinctively brough up his left arm in order to defend his throat and the wolf happily bit into his arm instead. The pain radiated from his limb up into the rest of his body. It was a sharp pain as the razor sharp teeth dug into his skin.

Nick tried to kick the wolf off but the mad mammal only bit harder into his arm and prevented Nick from throwing him off.

The wolf had not made his plan with Judy in mind however who had grabbed a large object and hit the bigger predator square on the head from behind causing the wolf to yelp in pain and thus giving Nick the chance to free his arm. He rolled to the side a little and tried to stand up but he was really dizzy and his attempt to run away ended with him falling flat onto his muzzle. The wolf however seemed more pissed at Judy and was now going after her.

She dodged a swing with from his claws and jumped onto the countertop when he charged her causing the already battered wolf to crash into the counter below her.

Nick meanwhile was trying to get up one more just as the wolf had gotten back up as well.

He finally was standing on both paws again only to see Judy dogde to the side while the wolf dove over the countertop right into Nicks arms.

The wolfes paws connected with Nicks chest and he was brought to the ground once more while the air was pushed out of his lungs completely.

This time though he was so dissoriented that he was not able to respond in time when the wolf ontop of him went for his throat.

He felt pain when the teeth pierced his skin and he knew that it was over. He would not survive this.

Only once moment after the wolf had sunk his teeth into his prey however Nick heard the oh so familiar noise of a gun being fired twice and the wolf collapsed onto him while Nick faded of into darkness once more.

The last thing he heard were Judy's screams, "come on Nick! Hold on! I got you! Come on you can't leave me now! "

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note:
> 
> So I had severe writersblock. I knew exactly what I wanted to write but I jsut could not put it into words and when I did it sounded so bad.  
> So I rewrote this like four times and this is the result(I am still not happy). I managed to create some other AU's though that I had in my mind for just as long as I had this story.  
> Funfact: Many of the characters in this story are actually meant for other stories. Like Leah is actually from Dust Devils( I though up her character in that AU is what I am saying)  
> But they are my OC's so I think nobody cares right?  
> Let's hope I can get the next chapter out a lot faster.


	30. Close one

Judy was panicked. She knew that she needed to stop the bleeding and she knew that she needed to be quick. She darted around and made her way over into the backroom. She hoped that her memory was correct and that there was a first aid kit hanging on one of the walls there.

When she entered the room she saw the real damage for the first time.

She could not make out which body had been Felicia and which one had been the store clerk as parts of both mammal were scattered across the room while blood puddles had formed around any major piece of mammal that could be seen around the room.

It looked like the wolf had torn both mammals apart in a frenzy. The smell of blood was so heavy in the small room that it was almost nauseating.

Judy wouldn't let this stop her though and she quickly glanced around the room in search for the much needed object she desired.

And her memory did not betray her, she soon laid eyes on the oh so sweet green case with a white cross on it.

She jumped onto a counter and grabbed the big first aid kit off the wall before sprinting back to the front of the store.

"Come on Nick!", she mumbled under her breath as she reached the two canines in the front of the store. It looked like both of them were dead, the way that they were laid out there in the middle of the store with blood all over and blood all around.

She managed to push the timber wolf off of Nick and saw the real damage for the first time.

Nick had a deep throat wound but at least the blood that was flowing out was not pulsating which meant that no major artery was damaged, lucky bastard.

She proceeded to open the first aid kit and grab the disinfectant in order to apply it generously onto the wound before applying the bandage in order to finally stop the blood flow. This was rather tricky since she had to make the bandage tight enough to stop the bleeding but loose enough so that she would not choke Nick to death. Which was a tall ask really.

But she remembered her first aid lessons and managed to pull it off by raising his arm over his head and lowering it back down after applying the bandage around the torso and under his armpit in a way that made it possible to avoid pressure on his trachea.

Now she needed to treat his other wound, she gave a sigh and took stock of the damage.

His other wound was far deeper than the one on his Neck. But it was not in an area that was as threatening as the throat was, regardless she had to clean the wound and bandage it, so she started doing that. Once she was finished with that her paws were covered in blood and she wondered how she was supposed to get Nick up now.

No she should probably just let him rest for now and not even try to wake him up.

All she could do now was wait and hope that Nick would not suffer an infection.

If sepsis was able to set in then she knew that she would not be able to help him whatsoever.

Judy gave another sigh and sat down against the counter while watching Nick's chest raise and fall slowly and steadily.

She thought about her goals. She had wanted to clear the FPM's name, that went down the drain spectacularly.

She wanted to save Felicia, the mess in the next room was a testimony for her failure in that matter.

And last but not least she was stuck in this weird savage predator mess while the only mammal that she could rely on was heavily injured and out cold.

Wonderful, just wonderful.

Suddenly she heard a growling sound and she turned her head. And her eyes went wide in shock. On the other side of the window right where she and Nick had stood before getting back into the store was a tiger. The predators in question was barely small enough to fit onto the walkway and it had just noticed her through the glass.

Judy grabbed her derringer and reloaded, these were her two last shots. Would she be able to take down a charging tiger with that?

Possible but unlikely was the answer her head gave her.

The tiger meanwhile had decided that it wanted to eat the delicious bunny on the other side of the pesky window and started banging his paws against it.

And unlike Judy before him he actually managed to crack the glass significantly.

Judy was in panic once more.

Now she definitely needed to wake up Nick! But how?

She looked into the first aid kit for answers and the kit answered her happily.

The answer came in the form of an epipen that she mustered for a moment. Could she use this? Was it even the right size?

These questions had to be answered through trial and error since time was of the essence at this point.

She went over to Nick and grabbed the epipen firmly before ramming it into his thigh.

The tiger meanwhile made great progress smashing through the security glass which was now bending into the room as it gave into the continued assault of the large predator.

“Come on Nick!”,she almost yelled,”wake up god dammit!”

She saw Nick's eyes flutter and he jolted upright which caused him to vomit onto the floor once more. Lucky for him he managed to avoid his arm or his throat which would have probably not taken kindly to the now mostly stomach fluid that he was coughing up.

She could hear him gasp for air and collapse onto his side.

Good that worked she thought now all I need to do is...

She never finished that though as the glass behind her shattered and the tiger managed to enter the room through the new hole that was now gaping in the storefront.

Judy darted to the side only for the tiger to barely miss her and she pulled out her gun in order to retaliate.

She took aim, she knew that her aim had to be true now and she wished that she had used only one bullet on the wolf before.

The tiger turned in what seemed like slow motion to her and charged at her once more.

She pulled the trigger.

She saw the bullet fly and hit the charging predator. But instead of his head she hit his shoulder.

She escaped his charge with a roll to the side and took aim once more.

The tiger stopped and roared in pain before turning towards her once more, but she was ready and pulled the trigger. But as she pulled the trigger she realized her error. The tiger was ducking down as he readied his pounce and she had aimed for his head which meant that when she had fully pulled the trigger the bullet hit the back of the tiger instead of its head like intended.

The tiger roared in pain once more and it was easy to see the he was furious and she was out of amo.

She looked around but she had maneuvered herself into a corner her only way of escape was directly underneath the pouncing tiger. She needed to be precise in her movement if she was one second of she would die. She felt terror in every inch of her body and when the tiger finally was about to pounce the tension released she dropped down flat onto the floor when she was startled by the sound of multiple gunshots being fired instead. Her eyes were closed but knew that she had messed up. She had dropped to soon and the tiger would get her now.

But nothing happened. Wait there had been gunshots!

She opened her eyes and saw the tiger who had dropped on his side with multiple holes on the side of his skull.

She turned her head and saw where the bullets had originated from.

There was Nick lying on the floor his pistol in his left paw shivering like mad and the thrown back slide indicated that he had unloaded his entire magazine into the tiger before her.

Their eyes met and Nick let the gun drop out of his paw.

Judy rose onto her paws once more and she was shivering all over.

This time death had been too close to comfort and today there had been too many of these situation, she was exhausted.

She made her way over to Nick,”come on Nick get up we need to get out of here.”

Nick's voice was weak when he responded,”I know but everything seems to hurt and I feel so weak.”

Judy gave a weak smile,”I though you guys are supposed to be Zootopia's finest. And you can't even handle these scratches?”

Judy watched as Nick managed to sit himself up and intermediately grabbed his wounded arm.

“You are right I just saw what happens when I leave you alone. You almost died there. Can't have that Carrots, can we?”

Judy just smiled,”exactly.”

She looked at Nick who was trying to stand up while still holding his arm,“wait!”

Nick looked at her somewhat confused but went back into his sitting position.

“Let's put your arm into a sling.” Judy went over to the first aid kit and found what she was looking for, a triangular bandage.

Nick nodded,”great idea Carrots.”

When she returned to Nick she could not help but notice how tired and pained he looked.

She unfolded the bandage,”okay Nick,put your paw up against your opposite shoulder.”

He used his other arm to position his paw like she ordered and held it in position.

She proceeded to put the corner of the triangular bandage over Nick's paw on top of his shoulder.

She then moved the bandage under his arm and once she had move up to his elbow she ordered him to support his arm again which he did. She then proceeded to move the bandage behind his back and up to his shoulder where she tied bot ends together with a reef knot. She then moved back down to his elbow and grabbed the last corner of the bandage and twisted it till it was tight enough and secured it next to the elbow itself.

“Alright, it's not too tight is it?”, she asked with concern.

Nick shook his head.

“Alright then let's get moving.”

And they both made their way over to the window that Judy had used to get out of the store back when she had gone down to rescue Nick. Judy was sure that she had seen an emergency exit around there somewhere.

Nick did really well for someone who was as beat up as he was, but he soon started staggering and so Judy started supporting him while he was walking.

They had already made some good progress when suddenly there was a loud noise and they both looked down towards one of the mall entrances where a SWAT team in full hazmat gear entered the building and started shooting the savage predators in the area.

She could see the happiness on Nick's face when he saw them,”look Carrots we are saved the cavalry is here.”

It looked like he was about to shout down towards them when another group of survivors had the same idea. They yelled for help and the SWAT team moved towards them only to open fire once they had a clear shot.

Nick and Judy both just stared at the scene before them,”Nick, I don't think these guys are here to save us.”

Nick gulped,”yeah let's get out of here.”

They could hear more gunshots coming from the opposite side of the mall and redoubled their efforts.

When they finally reached the emergency exit Nick grabbed Judy before she could open the door and she looked up at him somewhat confused.

“Carrots if these guys are here to clean this place up then they got all exits covered.”

She facepawed, of course that was standard operating protocol. “So then how do we get out?”

Nick smiled,”the rooftops.”

Judy could not believe what Nick had just told her.

The ROOFTOPS?

In his condition?

And how would they get there?

But Nick had her covered,”We can go through the window about two stores back and go over to the roof of the next building then we should be save.”

He was right the two buildings had looked like they were connected.

“Okay let's go. We can't let your friends catch up to us.”,she knew that he had noticed her little jab but he carried on regardless.

They reached the window relatively fast but the gunshots were now on the same level as they were which meant that they were pressed for time.

Nick just used his pistol to shoot the window and opened up a way out for them. Sadly he also alarmed every predator that was still in the area around them. Nick and Judy quickly made their way over onto the small ledge that was on the side of the building. And tried to make their way over as to the other roof as fast as they could while Judy was supporting Nick.

This was a wise decision as a savage fox soon turned up behind them and tried to leap after them. Unlucky for him though his paws slipped of the stone ledge and he feel down into the street where he landed with a light splashing sound.

Nick and Judy meanwhile had made it over to the other roof and Judy wanted to relax for a bit. Strangely enough though it was. Who urged for them to move on,”come on we can't stay here they will notice us and then we will be taken down as well if we stay up here.”

He was right and once more they made their way towards freedom when they found a fire ladder at the side of the building.

Once they were down Nick sat down against the wall of the house and Judy used the time to call for reinforcements. She had an idea how she could at least get something good out of this mess.

To her surprise it took less than five minutes before someone arrived.

The other operative was another rabbit in a purple raincoat with the hood of the raincoat and a respirator covering most of her face.

“Bianca how did you get here so fast?”, Judy asked confused as she was.

The tan colored doe just responded,”when we got wind of this whole mall mess we needed to find out what was happening here since the whole area is being closed off. And so I was sent to investigate.

That made sense and this would also explain the respirator.

Bianca gestured over to Nick who looked like he was almost asleep against the wall by now,”so that is our target?”

Judy nodded,”just follow my lead and everything will be fine.”

They both went up to the battered fox and Judy placed her paw on his shoulder which caused him to flinch,”Nick we need to get you to a hospital can you get up?”

Nick just nodded but failed to get up. This prompted both does to help him get up.

“Great foxy, now let's get you into the van.” Bianca said casually.

The van which was being driven by a hyena was parked at the end of the alley and once they had managed to get Nick into the van they both went into the back with him before closing the doors behind her.

“Wow carrots, so we managed to survive that.”,Nick said weakly as he was laying down onto the floor of the van.

Judy felt a little bit guilty but she grabbed the dart anyways,”yeah we did.”

And after saying that she rammed the tranqdart into Nick's thigh.

“Sweet dreams foxy.”,Bianca chimed in from the side as Nick closed his eyes.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> Whew that was weird. It took me so long to write this and it feels a little bit like the story is rushing because it is. I wanted to get that mall arc over and I did without having to write another chapter.  
> Also 10points to anyone who can identify who Bianca is inspired by.(hint she likes eggs and raincoat is normally a robe.)  
> I am also writing two stories simulatiously know for anyone who wondered why it is taking me so long that is the reason.  
> Also I have had a two hour discussion with a real doctor wether Nick would be able survive or not and what treatment would be needed.


	31. No Time to Rest

 

**Meanwhile somewhere else**

The room she was in was a real dump. And it was not like she had grown soft over the year that she had spent with Liska. Even on the farm they had no room that had been this worn down. No she was really proud that she could say that her family had kept the burrow in top condition for all these years. That thought left a sour aftertaste though considering that the burrow was no more.

And for a moment Runa wondered whether she was going to die here. Just die in this weird place somewhere without even knowing why. If she were to die it would probably from getting sick in this damn dump.

She had been stuck in this room for hours now and she still had no idea what to do.

She had tried to find a way out, with no success whatsoever. Which was not really all that surprising considering that the only way out of the room was a solid steel door that was made for mammals about three times her size.

No matter she had though plan B was waiting for someone to rescue her.

Only that waiting in this cold damp room with nothing to do proved really hard,it bordered on stressful, really. And so she started doing what every bunny would do in her situation and started exercising. It was not like rabbits had a problem with being coped up like this in general. They lived in burrows after all, but bunnies are certainly a very energetic species. And as such they don't do well with boredom.

Which meant that after a while even exercising got boring. So a new thing had to be found to pass time. Which in turn lead to Runa actually trying to take down the camera above the door. It took her a while but after using her leaping abilities to their full extend for what must have been about thirty attempts she managed to leap of the wall and grab onto the camera which left her dangling from the ceiling.

With a little bit of wiggling and swinging she managed to bring the camera down to the ground with her.

This however was something that she had not really though through as the camera was above her and naturally fell down after her thus landing on top of her. Which proved to be fairly painful.

Now however she had a new toy to play with, a camera.

Which she gleefully played around with and in the end just stripped apart, probably completely breaking it in the process.

But who could tell?

She was no electrician after all how would she know whether the camera could be put back together or not. In fact she was subconsciously hoping that the camera was now broken beyond repair, just so that her captors would suffer for kitnapping her.

Still she wondered why no one was coming to check on her or stop her now that the camera was gone.

And after a while she just went back to sleep, hopefully Liska would come soon and rescue her.

 

 

 

 

 

**A few hours later**

It was a real pain to get Nick into the building without being seen since the ZPD was still patrolling most of the city. That being said the two does with the help of the hyena managed to do actually do it. Which looked about as ridiculous as one might have expected.

Once inside though things got easier since they could just let the bigger mammals handle the fox. Judy gave orders to patch him up and then lock him away, she was sure that he would be able to see reason once he woke up.

Which lead her to the next problem at paw.

As always Sebastian was up in his office right above the dance floor. So Judy made her way over to the stairs that were leading to the upper floor.

The club itself was very well known and popular among young predators as far as Judy had heard despite the fact that the personnel was ninety percent prey.

Once she had made her way up the stairs leading up to Sebastian's office she took a deep breath. Was she really willing to do this now?

Shouldn't she rather take a break herself after all that had happened to her?

Deep down she knew that the answer any sane mammal would choose was to rest up now. But she also knew that she needed to do this, she knew that time was of the essence.

And so she took a deep breath and knocked at the door. There was a buzzing sound as the lock was disengaged and she opened the door. The room was still like it always had been. It was part office part apartment and she was sure from the smell that it had recently been completely cleaned. It was minimalist really, just the basics.

Apart from the huge desk with the many screens on it at the far end of the room that looked far too big for the fox sitting behind it and the big safe just behind that.

She had apparently walked in on something though as one of the two chairs that stood in front of Sebastian's desk was currently occupied by a young antelope.

Currently it was her that was speaking,”and so I need some money and some holidays to look after my poor hubby.”

Sebastian just nodded and stood up and almost vanished behind the desk completely while he made his way over to the safe. There he turned some dials and put in a key that he was wearing on a string around his neck, opening the safe and getting out what seemed to be a relatively huge amount of money. Before making his way back to his desk,”my dear I am sorry to hear about what happened to your mate and I want you to know that we are all here for you.” He said while placing his paw on the hooves of his employee.

“So take all the time that you need.”

The antelope nodded and Judy saw how her eyes teared up while she muttered a quick ”thank you” before rushing out of the room.

This caused Sebastian to finally focus on her.

Judy however chose to make her way over to the table first and take a seat before initiating the conversation.

“What happened to her?” She asked with casual interest.

Sebastian gave a sigh,”I am sure you know about the bombings on the climate wall?”

Judy nodded,”yes I know that there was one but I don't know much more.”

Sebastian raised a brow,”how did you not notice the other two?”

Judy was surprised, so there were two more explosions that would be blamed on the FPM.

“I was preoccupied with staying alive.”

The fox smiled,”that's reasonable enough. I am sure it has something to do with that fox you brought in, hasn't it?”

Now it was Judy's turn to sigh,”a bit yes. But he has done more to keep me alive than to harm me.”

Now Sebastian's interest seemed to be peaked,”oh how so?”

Judy could not help but smile,”let's just say that we make a kickass team.”

“Okay if you say so. Then why are we locking him up exactly?”

Judy's ears fell involuntarily,” because he is a cop and while I am sure that he is a good mammal. He has not seen reason yet but I am sure that I can turn him around.”

Sebastian gave her a no nonsense look,”you know what we will have to do if you don't manage to?”

She nodded knowing exactly what was going to happen then.

“Alright then, speaking of turning around. If I remember correctly we have a very naughty rabbit in the basement that you wanted to indoctrinate personally with my help.”

Judy nodded once more,”that is why I am here.”

Sebastian smiled,”alright, I will set everything up and you go prepare our subject.”

“Got it.” And with that she stood up and left the room. Now that she was on her way to Runa's cell, she was nervous. This was the best shot that the FPM had ever gotten to get the upper paw against Hunter. She would need to be really careful and make sure to not mess this up.

Once she was in the basement she saw a doctor coming out of one of the room followed by Mason, one of the bouncers.

She waved at the cape buffalo who made his way over to her before saluting,”how can I be of service ma'am?”

Judy rolled her eyes,”first you can drop the whole ma'am thing since we are not on an official mission. Second how the fox doing?”

“The doctor said he is going to be okay he is going to need watch his diet so that his body can regenerate all the blood that he has lost. Which means that we might have to buy him some meat if you want him to get better.”

The prospect of actually buying meat felt bad to Judy. This was exactly what she was fighting against. And yet she knew that she owed it to Nick to at least give him the chance to recover. She would find a way to deal with it, she was sure of that.

“Good to know, and last but not least where is the rabbit that we brought here earlier this day?”

The buffalo gestured down the hallway,”this way please” he said before leading the way.

Runa's cell was the last one down the hallway.

“She broke the camera in her cell so we have no idea what is going on in there.” Mason said while taking position next to the door.

Judy was taken aback by this comment,”she broke the camera in her cell?!”

She had though that Runa would be easy to handle but this seemed problematic.

What if she was in there waiting for someone to come in?

What if she had managed to make an improvised weapon?

She took another deep breath, she would never know unless she opened that door.

“Alright open the door.”

The buffalo nodded and opened the door.

Judy meanwhile prepared herself for a fight. She peered into the room and saw nothing. She slowly made her way in guessing that Runa had to be either left or right of the door.

And she was, but she was neither armed nor trying to attack her. There she was curled up on the mattress against the corner of the room with pieces of broken camera all around her.

It was a really sad scene.

But there was not time to be sentimental here so Judy went over to her and put her paw on her shoulder.

“Come on Runa wake up. There is a lot that I need to show you.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> So I got back into writing which means faster release(Yay).  
> Finally we are getting back to Runa now! Which also means faster releases overall since it is easier to write her.  
> And I know you are all going to hate me for it but next chapter(s) will be heavy lore and character origins so there ya go.


	32. Taking Point

**Somewhere in Deerbroke County**

 

The air was heavy and warm out here in the countryside and the fact that there was barely any wind made it a terrible day to be outside. However the members of the Wolf Pack did not care, they had their orders. And thus here they were lurking in the woods that surrounded the mansion which they were about to take. They had not been informed why this operation had suddenly been brought to live and they had no idea who their target was.

And even more surprisingly they were supposed to use non lethal tactics for this mission.

It was strange since it was completely out of the ordinary. It was strange because they usually killed every mammal that they came across to mask their involvement in whatever event they were involved in.

But they were soldiers and the word of their leader was law to them.

The mansion itself was heavily guarded. There were four guards on the front side of the mansion which were spread out by the entrance. And then there were three on the back side of the mansion in the garden.

Taking them out was easy enough since the operatives of the Wolf Pack had armed themselves with state of the art, military grade tranq rifles that had two magazines instead of one. One for nonlethal ammunition and one for lethal ammunition. This allowed them to switch between lethal and non lethal ammunition at will if things went south.

Once the guards on the outside were taken care of they moved up towards the mansion itself.

There they tied up the guards and readied themselves for breaching the building.

During this operation there would be a total of four teams for breaching which would split into eight teams once inside.

Two teams would breach the ground floor. The other two teams would take the smaller upper floors. The third team was already preparing themselves to breach the windows on the second floor while the fourth team had made their way up onto the roof in order to breach into the third floor.

Each of the four teams was assisted by two foxes. These foxes were part of a specialized unit who the wolves liked to call Scrappers. These Scrappers were highly trained smaller operatives who helped by performing medical field operations, managing explosives/applying explosives and breaking into safes or computer systems. They were all around really useful and often worked well in tandem with the much stronger operatives of the Wolf Pack.

They would support them and achieve the mission objective while the Wolf Pack operatives did the dirty work. For example by setting the signal jammers that would prevent the enemy from calling for reinforcements like they were doing now. Once they were finished they signaled the okay to Commander Black who would give the order to start the mission which would prompt the Scrappers to fire up the jammers.

Everyone was tense and it could be felt, it was like the electricity in the air before a thunderstorm.

Thanks to the jammers neither side would have access to any form of mobile communication once the mission had started.

When Commander Black finally gave the countdown everything changed though. It was almost scary how calm each and every one of them suddenly was.

3...2..1

The simultaneous sound of multiple breaching charges going off was followed by the sound of stun grenades being thrown into the building. And very soon the almost silent sound of darts being fired joined in as well.

Alpha team was the one breaching main entrance. They blew open the front door and flashed the inside of the room before rushing into the room in an organized manner. They were met with almost no resistance, as the two guards that were inside had no idea what the hell was going on. And thus they were taken out without any problem.

Like planned Alpha team then split into the teams Alpha 2.1 and Alpha 2.2. Both team spread out and started clearing room after room.

On the other side of the building Beta team breached the back of the building. Unlike Alpha team though they were meet with no resistance at all. That was okay though since their goal was finding the entrance to the basement and clear it out.

On the upper floors Gamma and Delta team were engaged in firefights with the enemy. The number of guards on the upper floors was definitely higher than on the lower floors. And since the enemies were using real bullets, and not nonlethal darts, the whole situation proved to be lot harder on them than expected.

This prompted the leader of Delta team, an older member of the team called Ryan who went by the code name Razor, to change his approach.

While his team was pinned down in the middle of a big room, that could only be a ballroom, from both sides he decided that they needed to apply additional cover and so he turned to his Scrappers as the bullets continued to fly into the surrounding furniture.

“We can't even poke our heads like this! Got anything that we can use to take their sight or take them out?”, he asked while the device on his throat morphed his voice into a far deeper version which was in place so that no one would be able to identify him based on his voice.

One of the foxes nodded before he replied with the same kind of voice that was morphed beyond recognition,”Sir we each got four teargas grenades, that should do them in.”

Ryan was not worried about teargas. Their mask like helmets that were shaped like a canine skull were not only there to absorb bullets and scare the shit out of their enemies, no they were also designed with state of the art filter systems that,in combination with their uniform, allowed the Wolf Pack to withstand any kind of chemical attack. So he nodded and gave the okay,”alright go for it!”

Each Scrapper immediately took of their bags and got out two grenades each in record time. They then threw them at opposite sides of the room and waited.

Much to the surprise of the Wolf Pack operatives the tear gas grenades exploded, though it was only with the strength of a firecracker which caused them to split into thirds and these thirds then released white smoke filled with CS gas.

The effect could be heard as the guards started coughing and stopped firing.

The wolves used this moment to attack them and take them out.

Meanwhile more firefights broke out on the lower floors. But both Alpha teams simply overwhelmed the enemy with speed and precision.

Beta team had finally reached the basement which for some reason was completely abandoned.

And both Gamma teams continued clearing the second floor.

After about five more minutes the whole building was cleared.

Except for one room.

In the middle of the basement there was a single steel door which was heavily reinforced.

Once Beta team discovered this they radioed it in which resulted in all Scrappers and team leaders being told to relocate to the position of the safe room.

Once they had reached their destination they started to check the door for weaknesses while Commander Black was watching.

They found a console which probably allowed the owner of the panic room to open it up if he somehow got locked out of the room himself.

And thus they started to hack the door while the Wolf Pack was guarding the mansion and rounding up the guards.

Time passed and it seemed almost impossible to get into the system itself. One would need to know the code and said code could be anything.

Suddenly though one of the Scrappers moved up to the console and started punching in codes.

The first two were wrong and some of the surrounding operatives were wondering if he was just trying to guess the code. But the other Scrapper who was hacking the door gave signals to his comrade at the console and he seemed to change the combination. After the sixteenth attempt the door suddenly opened and all hell broke loose.

The waiting operatives were meet by machine gun fire from beyond the reinforced door which hit the Scrapper at the console who had typed in the combination.

Fire was immediately returned, stun grenades were thrown and everyone dove into cover.

Ryan was currently occupied with returning fire when one of the Scrappers tapped his side.

He reacted by ducking behind cover and turning to the mammal who had tapped him. The fox in question, gestured some instructions on how the two of them would approach the door and rescue their wounded comrade.

It was really simple, they threw another stun grenade and moved out of their cover while the rest of the team continued shooting at the door before them and thus providing them with cover fire.

Ryan continued firing while closing the distance between himself and the door while the Scrapper tried to stick as closely to the ground as possible.

Once the had reached the console they pressed themselves against he wall next to it as the gunfire from with started to pick up again.

The Scrapper gestured towards his teammate and Ryan understood.

He grabbed the wounded Scrapper on the ground by his backpack and pulled him to the side which prompted the non wounded Scrapper who had already put down his backpack to spring into action.

He located the wound which was on the upper leg of the patient and started by applying a pressurized bandage. He then went right ahead and also applied a tourniquet to slow the blood flow.

After having provided first aid like this he ordered Ryan non verbally to keep pressure on the limb of the patient while rising it above head level before standing up and moving back towards the door.

He then signaled the others to stun the enemy once more which they did, only this time someone was actually entering through the door.

The Scrapper rushed into the room and then the gunfire went silent.

Moments passed that could have only been seconds, but to Ryan they felt like an eternity, before the Scrapper reappeared from the entrance of the room and signaled that the room was clear.

Two Scrappers moved up to Ryan's position relieving him from his duty as they took over the patient.

The entire squad moved into the room beyond which had been manned by four wolves who had each been using a stationary machine gun. At the end of this room was another door this one was made of wood and littered with tranqdarts.

Commander Black raised a fist and gave the signal to halt.

“We are here to capture the mammal that is supposed to be in this room!”, he exclaimed.

“We shall give him the chance to surrender and if he does not comply we are to tranquilize him. If the target is harmed in any way you will have to answer to ME! And therefore god shortly after. Is that clear?”

The answer was a unanimous,”YES SIR!”

And they breached the room.

The room that they entered was an office with bookshelves and filing cabinets on every wall with a big conference table in the middle.

At the far end of the room was a big desk with an old maned wolf sitting behind it.

He looked really calm even though eight rifles were currently aimed right at his chest.

He smiled,”so you are the famous Wolf Pack I keep hearing about.”

Commander Black lowered his rifle and replied,”indeed, we are here to capture you. If you do try to resist we will take appropriate measures to pacify you.”

The maned wolf nodded sagely,”I am sure that you will. But first tell me, where is your leader?”

Jack just replied,”He is right here.”

And to the surprise of multiple members of the pack he did not mean himself. Instead, the Scrapper who had taken town the guards in the room before moved up to him and handed him his backpack, before taking of his helmet and his voice modulator and throwing them onto the conference table.

The fox below was none other than Liska himself.

“Liska, it has been so long.” The maned wolf said with a certain warmth in voice that did not fit the scenario at all.

The black furred fox smiled and replied,”Indeed” before he turned to Jack.”Keep this room protected while we talk, the Military might already be on it's way. You are permitted to use lethal force from now on.”

Jack saluted and left the room while gesturing for his squad to follow him.

Once outside the room Ryan could not help but ask,”Commander?”

Jack did not stop walking while he replied,”Yes?”

“Why are we leaving Mr. Hunter with this enemy?”

This prompted Jack to actually stop,”Razor are you implying that our leader is not strong enough to fend for himself?”

This panicked Ryan a little bit,”NO SIR! Of course not! But we are his loyal soldiers, shouldn't we protect him whenever possible?”

”Normally yes, but this time is different.”

“If you say so Sir.”

And with that the conversation was over and Ryan was left wondering why Liska was here and what kind of place this mansion was that made it so important.

Simultaneously

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> I know I wanted to go all lore heavy in this chapter and wanted to do something from Runa's perspective. However time has shown me that I want to approach this a little bit differently in the next chapter.  
> One reason for this is the fact that the next chapter is going to be very important while another part is the fact that I want to try it this way.  
> So this is why Liska returned sooner than he was supposed to.  
> So expect more from Runa and Judy in the next chapter.  
> Also, special note:  
> I am currently working on 3 stories simultaneously. This is due to the fact that I like the variety that this gives me while writing. And it makes me happier in general.  
> One downside to this is the fact that I write 3 stories which means that the updates are more spaced out for the indivdual stories.  
> I apologize to the few of you who are actually waiting for this story to continue.
> 
> PS: This chapter sucks but it was necessary to set up the next one.


	33. Dive into the Past

**Back at the Fever Dance**

Runa was woken up by a voice that felt somewhat familiar.

Where had she heard this voice before?

When she opened her eyes she looked into the face of another rabbit.

This rabbit was a gray furred doe who was wearing dark clothing and reeked of blood.

When Runa realized this everything came into focus, this was her captor!

Who knew what horrible things she would do to her?

However this was only another rabbit!

If she was able to overpower her then she would be able to escape, wouldn't she.

She was just about to jump the strange rabbit when she saw the big buffalo in the doorway, panicked and curled up into a ball once more.

There it was again that voice, the does voice,"Hey Runa, I know that this is scary to you but I don't want to harm you."

Yeah right,"then why did you kitnap me?" Runa replied without leaving the safety of fetal position. She knew that it would not protect her at all, that was just silly. But she felt much safer this way.

"I wanted to save you Runa.",came the reply of her captor.

Now Runa was angry and she sat herself up again only to be met by hopeful amethyst eyes.

"YOU WANTED TO SAVE ME!? Save me? You took me against my will and then left me in...in...this place! How is THAT saving?"

She saw in the other doe's eyes that this was not the reaction that she had expected, which was strange. What kind of delusional world was she living in where kitnapping someone like this was considered a good thing?

The doe responded by trying to put a paw on Runa's shoulder which prompted her to back away as far as she could which was not much but barely enough to get the message across.

The doe then lowered her paw,"listen, I know we did not have the best start here. But I really want to help you! If you just let me help you."

Runa shook her head,"Why should I trust you at all?"

Her captor seemed to mull over that for a moment before saying,"my name is Judy Hopps and I am an operative for the FPM. I kitnapped you because I need your help, but more importantly to protect you from yourself."

She paused for a moment,"so now you know who I am and what I want. At least give me a chance so that I can give you a chance,please."

The pleading look on Judy's face looked so real. And Runa was having a hard time deciding whether to stay stoic or to listen to what she had to say.

She had heard Liska saying once that knowledge was power. If that was true then maybe she should listen to Judy and gain more information on what she wanted. Maybe she could even find a chance to escape this place this way.

"Fine, I will listen to what you have to say.",Runa said while crossing her arms before her chest in an attempt to show that this did not mean that she would trust Judy yet.

But Judy just nodded and smiled,"come on, there is lots of stuff that I need to show you."

~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~          

              

Once the door was closed behind him Liska moved over to the desk where the old maned wolf was waiting for him. "You know chief, I really never though I would say this, but you have gotten old."

They both laughed and Liska took his place opposite of the maned wolf.

The old predator smiled,"Indeed I have gotten old, and yet you look like you have not aged at all. You have got to tell me your secret."

This caused Liska to chuckle,"as a silver fox that is beyond my influence I would say."

There was a moment of silence and they both just looked at each other before the chief decided to speak,"we both know that you are here for a reason. You wouldn't have fought your way in here through all of my agents without one. So why are you here?"

Liska sighed while his paw moved to his holster to grab his pistol,"speaking of your agents. I am deeply disappointed with the skill level of the secret service, you know." Liska said while he moved his gun above the table so that the older predator could see it. He pulled back the slide to assure that a bullet was in the chamber before speaking,"I remember them being a lot tougher back in the days."

The chief nodded sagely,"yes a lot of the good guys retired while you were away. Some even retired because you were away. So I had to make due with raising a new generation so to say."

Liska lowered the pistol back into his lap,"I figured as much. They all looked pretty young to be honest. So why not recruit some mammals from the ZIS. Why take them fresh out of the academy instead?"

The older predator laughed once more,"recruit them from the ZIS? And risk to compromise my team?" The maned wolf scoffed,"come on Liska, I may have gotten old but that doesn't mean that I have gotten careless."

Liska smiled,"true, you are still as strong as you always have been."

He raised his pistol back up, placing it on the desk before him and sliding it over to the chief.

"Sir, you made me everything that I am today. You made me into the strong, intelligent and loyal soldier that always fought for the system without regard for his own life. And you should know that I thank you for this from the bottom of my heart." He took a deep breath,"and yet...I now stand against the system that we both love. Even without intending it, you created the monster that I am today. So given all that you have done for me, it is only fair that I supply you with a silver bullet."

 ~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~

                 

Judy lead Runa out of the basement and into what seemed to be a nightclub. They passed through it pretty quickly though and arrived at an office that was located above the club.

The inside of the office was dark and the only visible light source was a projector that projected nothing at all onto one of the office walls.

Next to the projector was a fox in a suit who gestured towards the two chairs next to the projector while saying,"good timing I just finished preparing."

Runa followed Judy and sat down on one of the chairs. The fox meanwhile moved in front of them,"So you are the rabbit that Liska took in? I don't know what I expected."  
"Hey!" was all that Runa brought out before she was cut off. I was astonishing how badly these mammals treated her while they were still pretending that they were, sooo nice to her.

"Don't" came the reply from the fox,"My name is Sebastian and I am supposed to show you what kind of mammal Liska really is. Because while you might think that he is on your side there is no reason for him to be. And I hope that you understand why you should join us instead once I am finished."

Runa was surprised by this and jumped onto her feet,"wait! So you kitnapped me and locked me into the basement and then expect me to join your cause? How does any of that make sense?"

The fox just rolled his eyes,"just sit down,listen and you will understand. That should be easy enough right?"

Runa was still not happy but she sat back down regardless.

Sebastian tapped onto a remote that he grabbed from his pocket and the projector displayed a picture.

It was a picture of eleven predator kits and a maned wolf in military clothing.

There was two ferrets, a skunk, a honey badger, two hyenas, a pangolin, a raccoon and finally three foxes. Runa instinctively focused on the three foxes. A normal red fox who looked rather tired, an arctic fox with white fur and finally a silver fox with a jet black coat.

They were all wearing military training shirts with the word apex written over their heart in small letters.

"To get started, I will tell you about how Liska grew up and then how he became who he is today."

Runa who was still somewhat focused on the picture was surprised when she heard Liska's name and realized that this was indeed Liska in the picture. She could not help herself but smile, so even he had been a kit once. Not that she thought that he hadn't been a kit, she just couldn't imagine him as a kit. He had been cute.

Sebastian went on,"So as you can see Liska was part of the Apex program. You know about the war?"

Runa nodded, of course she new about the war. Zootopia and the Kingdom of Animalia had been fighting over something for decades and then Zootopia had overpowered the Animalian military and gained lots of ground in the span of a few years. This prompted the King of Animalia to seek an armistice with the Zootopian government. Zootopia had gained lots of new land through this and the relationship between both countries had been strained ever since.

"Great, during the war there was a point where basically nothing happened because both countries seemed to be evenly matched due to the fact that we had to defend our borders to prevent the other surrounding countries from attacking us while we were distracted by our fight with the Kingdom.

At that point we were running out of operatives and so many programs were started to combat this.

One of them was the Apex program which Liska was a part of."

Runa was a bit confused since she had never heard of any such programs. Normally every detail of how the war was won was broadcast over and over again to increase morale and to make joining the military seem more enticing. She had seen lots of documentaries and such on the TV when she was younger. "Say what is the apex program?"

Sebastian tapped the remote once more and another picture came into focus.

This time it showed a poster or something like this with a strong looking wolf in military gear. It read,'Vote for the Apex Initiative to aid our soldiers at the front!'

Sebastian continued,"the Apex program was an ingenious way to combat the enemy without endangering the next generation of predators in Zootopia. And it was a fairly easy principle. The soldiers in the war zone collected all the kits that they could get their paws on and sent them back home."

Another click and the slide changed to a picture of soldiers dragging kits out of their homes.

It stayed only for a brief moment though as there was another click and the picture changed to that of a cell with a young tiger in it who was covered in blood.

"They took the kits and locked them up in order to test them. They only wanted real killers and so they gave every kit a teenage version of their natural prey and no food. The kits would have to kill their prey and live off of its corpse for a fixed amount of time. If they did not kill the prey they would be killed themselves. There was no place for weaklings in the program."

It was Judy who cut in before even Runa could,"wait so you are saying that they killed predator kits?"

Sebastian nodded,"yes it is one of the best kept secrets of this time."

This rubbed Runa the wrong way,"then how do you know about it? If it is so well kept."

Sebastian sighed,"because I was part of the program. Anyways thousands of kits were taken and only a few hundred made it through the first test. They were then split into categories and given an instructor."

Another click and the picture from the beginning came back,"ours was Agent Smith. We always called him chief though. He was the one who made us into the mammals that we are today. He made Liska into the mammal that he is today."

Runa was surprised why would someone who grew up with Liska stand against him now? Wouldn't they be like family and stick together?

"Smith was a terrifying instructor. He managed to find out each mammals strengths and weaknesses and custom tailored training for all of us. He made the weak strong and the strong he made terrifying. Every trainee in the Apex program was trained in tradecraft, marksmammalship, paw to paw combat, programming, chemistry, psychology, acting and much more. The plan was to make us into the perfect operatives. And for mammals like Liska and Alice this was true."

Runa could not help but ask given the chance,"I have heard the name Alice before from Liska, who was she?"

Sebastian sighed,"Alice and Liska were childhood friends and knew each other even from before the program. They always stuck together and they were both really talented at what they were doing. Together there was no challenge that they could not overcome. No competitor that they could not best. Because they made up for each others weaknesses, it was scary for the rest of us. For example while Liska is by no stretch of the imagination weak in combat. He was good enough to train special forces later in his career, he was nowhere as good with rifles and in paw to paw combat as Alice was."

This was interesting to Runa she could not imagine Liska being outdone by a female,"then what was he good at?"

Sebastian smiled,"I am glad that you asked. His specialty is manipulating others."

 ~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~

            

Smith was laughing and grabbed the pistol of the table before mustering it with a certain gleam of nostalgia in his eyes,"you know Liska, I was scared that you had changed. I was scared that you would stop being you after what happened. But I am glad that you are still the loyal to a fault soldier that I raised."

Liska smiled ironically,"Am I really? Because I certainly don't feel like it."

The older predator smiled warmly,"of course you are. And because you are, I know that even though you have supplied me with a bullet that applying it would not be easy. In fact I do not believe that I would be able to kill you even if I tried right now."

The smile on Liska's muzzle grew into a grin,"you won't know until you tried."

The old maned wolf shook his head dismissively,"I'd rather not."

There was another moment of silence that was broken by Smith once more."This is the gun that I gave to Alice."He said in a rather sad tone.

Liska's ears perked,"how did you know? The guns that you gave us were identical."

Now it was the old predator's turn to smirk,"but you would not have edged a heart with both of your initials into the grip."

"Fair enough. Yes, it is hers. I could not bear to part with it so I buried her with mine instead." Liska said while looking into his lap with his ears seemingly glued to the back of his head.

There was another moment of silence.

"Liska I am truly sorry for your loss. The two of you were meant for each other. Every mammal that had eyes could see that. And I won't say that I understand whatever you are going through. But I want to say that the fact that you have not given up is a testament to your strength. And I am proud of you."

Smith put the gun back down onto the table between them and Liska looked back up while giving him a weak smile,"thanks."

Smith then proceed to grab something from a drawer in his desk while Liska was silently watching. The object that he brought out of the depths of his desk was a bottle of whiskey and he poured each of them a glass before speaking once more.

"Say what exactly did you do to piss off Alexander as much as you did?"

The sadness that had enveloped Liska made way for frustration but he replied calmly none the less,"I am just as curious as you."

 ~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~

                                      

"He was so got at that in fact that when he finally fought in the war, he started recruiting double agents on the side. And once he had enough he would report to his superiors and ask them whether he was allowed to take down target x or y. Naturally they would allow him to try since he was disposable. But he would let his double agents destroy the enemy from the inside before striking with a small force and completely annihilating every target he set out to destroy. Which gave him lots of recognition in the military and allowed him and Alice to move through the ranks quickly."

This seemed a lot like Liska to her. He was always thinking and always had an answer to each question.

There was another click,"which brings us to the next item on the list."

Runa almost wanted to throw up. On the picture were lots and lots of mammals, predators and prey alike piled on top of each other. They were obviously dead, some of them were missing limbs others had their heads split open. And the piles were on fire. Off to the side she could see Liska, who was flanked by Alice and the badger from the first picture, stand in front of a young tigress. She seemed to be crying while Liska was propping her chin up with his gun. He seemed younger in the picture, she guessed that he must have been a teenager back then.

The photo made her feel sick and yet she could not take her eyes off of the picture.

"This was just one of the cleansing operations that he was involved in. Liska was described by other soldiers as one of the most cruel mammals on the field. He is responsible for the death of thousands of civilians on the enemies side."

Runa looked at the picture in fear and she did not want it to be true, "why would he do that? He must have had a reason! Right?"

There was a pause where Judy and Sebastian just looked at her and Runa wondered whether they had heard her, "right?"

Sebastian looked at Judy who gave him the go ahead to continue by turning her paw in a circle, "indeed he did. Liska always carried out his missions no matter how ludicrous they were. So when he was told to attack a hideout in the caves somewhere. He would attack that hideout and kill everyone in it. Even if the inhabitants were civilians and not the Rebels that we were fighting against at the time."

There was another click,"but ultimately we won the war because of mammals like him which made him a war hero."

The slide was now showing a picture of a younger Liska and Alice flanking a younger version of Senator Burchell.

"When the war was over the Apex program was no longer needed. And thus the program was terminated. Some Agents of the program went to the ZIS while others enlisted for the real military. Some teams became special forces units. And the ones who did not do any of that were terminated. Liska and Alice wanted to go to the ZIS and they did after a young new politician who had also fought in the war recruited them for himself. They worked in the ZIS as field agents and instructors for a few years so that they would not be killed before transferring to the secret service."

Runa's and Judy's eyes went wide and ultimately it was Judy who spoke,"wait those guys exist?"

Sebastian nodded,"yeah they do. And Liska, who had by that point married Alice, started working for Burchell. He created a network of operatives which allowed him to protect and strengthen Burchell as much as possible. You could say that Liska and Alice were the sole reason that Bruchell is as powerful as he is today."

Runa was confused,"but Liska wants to fight the Senator. Why would he want that?"

"Because a few years ago Liska and Alice were arrested for treason. All indicators point to Burchell as the one behind this. Naturally they both escaped and Liska has been on the run ever since. Alice was two years back in a firefight with the ZIS. And while he is still very much alive, he was declared dead as well. So that after years of hunting him the ZIS could finally be able to cut their losses."

"So that means that Burchell is responsible for Alice's death?"

Sebastian nodded once more,"Indeed he is. That being said we have no idea what Liska and Burchell were planning that lead to this."

Now Runa was infuriated,"what do you mean planning?! Burchell killed his mate why would they be planning anything together?"

Sebastian sighed,"because Liska is loyal. Above anything else that is what he values. Bruchell is his master if he said kill yourself he probably would."

Runa was not satisfied by this,"but you foxes mate for life! Liska would not let his mate die!"

"True but the alternative is that Liska is currently not following orders."

"Yes and why can't you just accept that alternative.", Runa asked in a challenging tone.

The result was not quite what she expected as she noticed fear on Sebastian's muzzle,"because if Liska is not following orders that means that he is totally free to do whatever he wants and that is the most terrifying thing that I can imagine."

 ~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~~+~

                               

"So you have no idea why Alexander betrayed you?", Smith asked showing that he was still curious.

Liska shook his head,"no but I am going to find out."

The older predator smirked and warmly stated,"that sounds like the young silver fox who cheated his way through every test I gave him."  
There was another pause but this time it was Liska who broke the silence,"this is not going to be easy."

Smith chuckled,"I have no idea what you are planning, despite the fact that I am in the intelligence business."

Liska gave him a looked that could only be read as 'really?'.

"Being in the intelligence business means knowing things, Liska. And even though I tried hard to find out I came up dry when investigating your organization. I know of the basics, yes, you are gearing up for war. But I got NO...GOD...DAMN..IDEA, what you are going to do with all those mammals that you are recruiting!"

Liska smiled and took a sip from his glass,"I learned from the best."

Smith smiled warmly once more,"speaking of which, you are not here to chat with me are you?"

Liska sighed,"was it that obvious?"

"To me it was anyways, so you are here because you want?"

Liska's expression went serious in a matter of seconds,"access, the kind that even the ZIS does not have. I was caught off guard by Alexander once. I cannot let that happen again, so I need access."

Smith looked at him in confusion,"access to what?"

Liska did not fall for his charade though an pushed on,"access to all those spinning satellites who record every keystroke and every phone call. Access to those satellites record everyone's dirty little secrets. I want you to give me access so I can carry on with my plans."

Now the expression of the older predator went serious as well,"what makes you think I would give you access to this system?"

Liska sighed once more,"Alexander took me and Alice in when we had nowhere else to go. He gave us purpose. He sheltered us from death. So I devoted myself to making his live better for him."

Liska choked up but he continued,"I loved Alexander, he was family to me and I looked up to him. His betrayal hit me almost as hard as losing Alice. And of all the...horrible things I have done. What I am about to do...that...that might very well...be the most."

Liska shook his head a little before recovering and continuing with the deadly seriousness he usually used."But I am going to do it. To protect the ones I care about and to avenge Alice. And chief you must understand having decided on doing that, I am certainly not going to let you stop me now."

                        

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Auhors note:
> 
> So here is the chapter. As promised LORE!  
> And I tried something new let me know whether this switching works or not.  
> Also I this is the longest chapter I ever wrote so there is that as well. And incidentally we finally hit 70k words (yay me)  
> So back to writing my other stories.


	34. A new Route

 

 

It was Judy who broke the silence after Sebastian had stopped talking.

“All our plans revolve around Liska and Burchell being a united front, what would it mean for us if they are enemies instead?”

Sebastian who seemed like he was trapped in his own thoughts did not reply at all however.

“SEBASTIAN!” Came the call back to order from Judy.

The fox flinched and shook his head. “Yes, if Liska and Burchell are enemies then that means that our plans might be obsolete.”

Runa watched both mammals closely as he said that and it was clear that the revelation hit them hard. And so it was Runa's turn to ask. “How did you not even consider something so obvious?”

Judy was about to open her mouth when Sebastian interrupted.

“Because of two simple reasons. One, Liska is a loyal mammal and betraying the government is the last thing he would ever do. Thus it was viable to assume that he would not go against Burchell.”

Judy gave her comrade a confused look,”there is another reason?”

“Sure,” came Sebastian's reply.

“The other reason why we never considered this option was the fact that we would not be able to do anything about it.”

Judy's ears fell and her expression became even more concerned,”what is that supposed to mean.”

Sebastian seemed to get angry when he replied. “It means exactly what you think it does. Liska and Burchell both have immense power in this country. Their respective forms of power do vary of course. The main difference is though that Burchell, unlike Liska, has a god damn conscience!” He balled his paws into fists and low growl escaped his maw.

“If Liska truly has no mammal above him which gives him orders. Then that means that he is free to do whatever he wants in order to achieve his goals. And as someone who has known him since he was a kit, I can say that he will get revenge! Because he always strives for new conflict. And he will destroy this country in the process if he has to. ”

A shiver went down Runa's spine as she remembered her burrow burning down.

It was true that Liska had been more or less indifferent about the whole thing apart from his apologies to her.

Was she sure that he wouldn't do something like this?

No absolutely not!

In fact she had never been more unsure about avbsolutely everything in her whole life.

Was it likely that he would use methods which would result in the death of many?

Most likely as far as she knew from the presentation.

Did that mean that he was evil?

She had no idea, she was not even sure if she could trust the mammals before her.

If anything, Liska had always been the one who had been there for her and pushed her to grow stronger.

Stronger...he had done that hadn't he?

Had he trained her?

What if he really intended on using her for something?

Would she be willing to aid him no matter the cost?

Runa was feeling very conflicted.

She wanted to be a good rabbit!

Good rabbits would not betray their own...or would they?

Wouldn't she be bad too if she stood beside someone who was bad?

Her train of though was interrupted when Judy spoke up.

“So you are saying that we have two enemies instead of one. Is that correct?”

Sebastian nodded in affirmation and Judy continued.

“Then what are we supposed to do now that our plans are compromised like this?!”

She had started speaking calmly but by the end of the sentence it was very clear that desperation dripped from every word that left her maw.

A sigh came from Sebastian followed by an answer that neither Judy nor Runa had expected.

“Bellwether might know an answer to that question. And until she does...well..the plans are already made. So we might as well continue to follow them. Since we can not do anything about Liska at the moment, I mean. ”

Judy tilted her head,”and that is another thing I do not understand. Liska is supposedly untouchable. But we just stole her...”

She pointed at Runa angrily.

“...right from under his nose. So why can't we just take him down?”

“There are a few reasons for that. For one, unlike the Senator who is a public figure, Liska is a criminal. And as such he has no boundaries that confine him. So it is hard for us to actually attack him effectively. Once he is onto us planning to attack him. Secondly, you kitnapped his petrabbit for all we know! Liska is a trained fighter with more ”

This time Runa felt the urge to ask,”So you are just planning to keep going like this?”

Judy jumped to her feet and looked directly at Runa.

“Of course not! This is why you...”

However she was cut off by Sebastian.

“Yes, we are going to continue like we have before. Nothing has changed. We can let Liska and Bruchell fight among themselves while command comes up with a new strategy.”

Judy turned around and gave Sebastian a look somewhere in between drop dead and why are you suddenly in charge?

Sebastian seemed to have calmed down though and he just stared back at her without any visible expression on his muzzle.

Both mammals continued staring at each other for a while before a knock on the door broke the uncomfortable silence.

“Do come in.” Came the polite order from Sebastian and the same buffalo from before entered room.

His booming voice filled the voice as he reported,”Sorry to interrupt Ma'am. However, the other prisoner has woken up and the doctor is asking for you. He told me to tell you that he will come up here himself and tranquilize you if you don't come down now to so that he can have a look at you.”

Judy looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. “I told you not to call me Ma'am. And tell the weasel that I am fine and that his services are not requi..”

She could not even finish the word before Sebastian cut her off once more.

“Doctors orders Hopps! Even you will not go against that. So go and meet him while I finish up here.”

“Fine.” Judy grumbled under her breath as she made her way towards the door where the buffalo was already waiting.

Once the door was closed Sebastian sprung into motion.

He moved up uncomfortably close with just a few well practiced paces.

“So Runa, tell me are you really not going to join us?”

This question out of the blue confused Runa somewhat.

“Uhmm...I..I never said that did I?”

But Sebastian was having none of that.

“Then say it now, are you staying with us or are you going back?”

“But there is no going back is there?” Asked Runa sarcastically. The question itself angered her. There was not going back, she would either join or be killed.

However Sebastian managed to surprise her and consequently stun her once more.

“The door is over there. From there you take the stairs and the exit is illuminated with green signs.”

“What?!” Was all she managed to bring out.

Sebastian stepped back a little and started to explain.

“I am not going to keep you here unless you want to actually join us. And I would kill any other mammal who wouldn't want to. Normally, however imprisoning you or killing you for that matter is not an option for me.”

This made no sense to Runa. “Why?”

Sebatians reaction was to start laughing but he answered her question none the less.

“You really have no idea who Liska is do you?”

He paused and calmed down for a moment before he went on.  
“Liska is strong and the FPM does not have the resources to fight him at all. I know Liska and because of that I know that he took you in for a reason. Whatever that reason might be. And I am not going to agitate him while he is angry by messing with you.”

He gave another sigh, “so go now if you want to leave. If you are still here when the Judy is finished with her examination then you are going to be stuck here. And that will be bad for both of us.”

She wanted to jump up and leave. But a voice in the back of her head keep telling her to stay.

Not to trust Liska after seeing what he was capable of.

Maybe she could make a difference here?

 

 

When Nick woke up he felt like his entire body was made out of lead.

And a bright light seemed to sting from above as he opened his eyes. Which caused him to close his eyes right back up.

Damn that had hurt!

“Oh, you are awake”, came a foreign female voice from somewhere right next to him and Nick wondered where he was exactly.

Bright light, heave body and a strange unknown female voice.

He wasn't dead was he?

Panic came over him for a moment.

No!

There was no way he was dead, it just wouldn't be fair. After all he went through to get out of that damn mall.

The mall...Judy...where was Judy?

Was she okay?

Wait...was this the hospital?

He tried to slowly open his eyes once more but the bright light caused sharp pain in his head that forced his eyes shut once more.

“Is the light to bright?” Asked the female voice and he heard someone jump down from what he assumed was a chair, which was hard to tell just from sound alone.

He heard soft paws hit the ground in rapid succession as the other mammal moved through the room.

“The Doctor said that this might be the case. Wait a second let me fix that.”

There was a clicking sound and Nick assumed that it was okay now for him to open his eyes.

The room was pitch black, not because of its color but rather due to the fact that there was no light anymore, at all.

The distinct noise of someone running into a heavy object followed by a squeak and the sound of metal crashing onto the floor which resulted in a muffled,”dammit” made his ears perk up.

“So...I just totaled your meal and...I..uhm..well...am just going to get something else for you. Just wait here for a moment.”

Nick who was still feeling somewhat dazed was almost to slow to even get a word in as the unknown female said,” please close your eyes for a moment, so that I can open the door without blinding you.”

“Wait!” It was supposed to be a shout but his throat was so dry that it ended up being just a weak caw.

His eyes were finally adjusting to the darkness somewhat and he could already see rough shapes in the dark which rapidly formed into actual objects.

And by what he assumed to be the door stood a rabbit.

“Sure, do you need anything?”

He nodded weakly.

“There is so much I need to know. For example how long was I out or who are you.”

The doe reached for the door while answering,”I am Runa and you were out for about two days. If you have anymore questions then direct them at Judy once she gets here.”

With that she opened the door just enough to slip through and Nick closed his eyes reflexively as light streamed into the room, if even just for a second.

So Judy was here, he had no idea if this was good or bad.

Well, only time would tell.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> It has been 10.000 years!  
> And I am sorry for that but things are pretty hectic for me right now.  
> I might be gone for the next for months starting next week since I got a new job and I have no idea when I might get to touch a computer again.  
> I hope that I can find another way for that but when I do this story is up on the list for new chapters to be released.(to make up for the long time since the last chatper[and ths short chapter])


	35. A Toast

**Meanwhile: Downtown  
**

 

The sun was just setting over the horizon and the Zootopia downtown area was painted in a warm orange light.

It would have been a beautiful sight to witness but Christopher, a young raccoon, was currently far too busy with his work and therefore missed the nature spectacle. Up until he entered his bosses office after knocking on the door twice.

“Christopher, are you already finished?” Asked senator Burchell from behind his large conference table. He was not turned towards the door, rather than that he was facing the large window front that extended over the entirety of the office's back wall.

The golden light painted the room in a surreal color scheme as it fell onto the expensive wooden table and the comfortable leather chairs which adorned it on either side.

His boss would have not been visible in his big chair as he leaned back, if it weren't for the glass of whiskey that he was carefully swirling around in his right paw with a circular motion, as his arm rested on the side of the chair.

“Yes Sir!” Said Christopher with all the confidence that he could muster given the circumstances.

The numbers were not bad, but they were certainly far from their desired goal. Not to mention the whole incident from two days ago which had made operations within the city limits that much harder. And he hoped that the Senator would ask for the status of their operation instead of the poll numbers as Otterton was steadily gaining followers.

“And what is our status?” Asked the Senator in usual calm collected demeanor.

Christopher took his chance to step further into the room before closing the door behind him and he started to speak as he had practiced before paw.

“The widow has been eliminated, that means that there is no mammal left that can link the FPM attack to us.”

Burchell took a sip from his glass and waved his other paw around in a circular motion which signaled his assistant to go on.

“The involvement of the military as well as the new curfew have halted some of our operations, as you already know Sir. But I spoke with Mister Iruantai and he assured me that his people are working hard to get everything back in order.”

The Senator made a clicking noise with his tongue and said coldly.

“I do not believe that, we could have seen this problem coming. If we had been better informed about the military's marching orders that is. I think that he has been deliberately stalling us.”

He took another sip before adding.

“Have Svenson take care of him and replace him with a suitable candidate as soon as possible.”

Christopher nodded instinctively and made a small note on his notepad.

“We also received reports that the military is using this chance to move its troops into the counties. They are mainly focusing on Deerbroke for some reason. This means that the troops in Zootopia proper are more thinned out than expected.”

He made a full stop, but when he got no reply he added.

“I thought you might be interested in this, Sir.”

The drawn out silence that followed made the much younger raccoon uncomfortable and understandably so.

In this business there was no time for messing around, one had to be ruthless in politics. And his boss, the Senator, was the one mammal that strove to stand at the very top of it all.

As such, he had been known to get rid of any mammals that proved to be problematic along the way.

He had not always been that way though. Or so Christopher had heard. And him having spoken without being asked was a big red flag in the mind of the ambitious raccoon.

The silence was broken by the ice in glass, as the formation of ice cubes hit the wall of the glass itself.

The senator took another sip.

“It is indeed interesting.”

He finally turned his big leather chair around and placed the glass onto the table before he propped his elbows onto the table and proceeded to rest his head on his paws.

“It gives us information about our adversary that we did not have before.”

This made Christopher tilt his head in confusion and he asked without thinking.

“How so Sir? Isn't your adversary agent Hunter?”

His boss just mustered him calmly and so he panicked and added.

“He has nothing to do with the military anymore since he became a criminal. Right?”

Burchell raised his head and leaned back into his chair as he replied with a smile.

“He does, but that is not what I mean. Our esteemed President is doing his best to fend of any problems that may endanger this country. Be they inside the country our outside of the country.”

The Senator placed his right arm on the chair's armrest and started looking at his own paw while he went on.

“Thanks to my efforts Liska is one of these problems. And the fact that the military is moving on this scale means that Liska did something big. The fact that the news are not involved means that this is a matter of national security and this means that our plan is working.”

Christopher felt happy about that at the very least. He had no real idea how this meant that the plan was working, but it meant that all his work was finally paying off. And thus he got curious.

“What makes you say that Sir?”

The Senator turned his attention back towards his assistant and smiled happily.

“Liska operates stealthily and with great precision. He has been planning his revenge on me for years now and the fact that his actions are being noticed by the acting government means that he is getting desperate.”

The smile turned into a smirk.

“And with him changing up his plans to match our...well...it just means that we are in the lead. And that is thanks to your suggestion, I am proud of you my boy.”

After saying this the Senator grabbed his glass once more and held it up into the air. It was filled with the rest of the expensive liquid which looked like liquid gold as it was hit by light of the setting sun.

“To our success.”

Christopher felt a warm fuzzy feeling in his stomach.

“Hear hear!”

It felt good to be appreciated.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:  
> So I made this little chapter while I am anxiously waiting for my last day at home to end before I set out to leave for a totally new horizon.   
> And thus you may or may not enjoy it and I wish you all farewell until I get the next chance to write something again.  
> I made this in just a few hours so I apologize if it is not as long or as proofread as my chapters usually are.


	36. I think I forgot

 

Judy entered the kitchen where Runa was cooking what seemed to be actual rabbit meat and climbed the ladder onto the counter. A ladder which had been put there specifically for the other doe in the room.

She took a glance at the package which had been lazily thrown on her side of the counters and her suspicions were confirmed by a cartoon bunny on the packing giving her a thumbs up. Even if it was just a picture...combined with the smell filling her nostrills it made her want to throw up immediately.

But Judy would not cave so easily...not here...not when Nick actually needed the protein.

These rabbits were already dead and throwing them away would be a waste, was the mantra that Judy repeated in her head over and over as she made her way over towards the other rabbit before her.

Meanwhile, Runa was hopping around the counter energetically.

She was looking like she was actually enjoying herself as she was cutting up onions into the skillet before her, despite the fact that just about a week ago she had been less than thrilled to cook her own kin.

The fact that the counter itself had been designed with a lion in mind gave the whole scene a somewhat comedic look.  
But the young rabbit handled the larger equipment like a pro. Even if it had taken her several tries to achieve the casual level of interaction she now displayed.

One of her ears was home to an earbud which she had borrowed from Judy, togehter with a portable music player.  
And so it happened that she was humming along to the foreign song on the device that had caught her fancy as soon as she had heard it.

'Try Everything' was the title. And if the resistance members were to be believed, then it was actually sung by a prey mammal who was a member of the resitance itself.

Come to do good, stay for the music thought Runa with a smirk.

And it was due to her focus on both the music and the food before her that she did not notice the bunny sneaking up on her, even if the bunny was not sneaking at all.

So when Judy tapped her on shoulder to get her attention Runa almost jumped into the skillet before her in a knee jerk reaction.  
Which would have probably send Judy to a therapist for good.

But Judy noticed and pulled Runa back at the last moment.

"Woah there!" Said Judy more to herself then to the bunny before her.

Runa shook her head a little as if to shake of the realization that she had almost made a horrible mistake by accident.

"DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT!" Yelled Runa at Judy, half because she was actually mad, half because the music on her left ear was turned up to eleven.

Judy smirked,"well I would but it seems that unless I come up to you with a marching band then you won't notice."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Asked Runa somewhat confused.

Judy tilted her head and answered sardonically,"it means that you have the perception of a deaf mole."

Now it was Runa's turn to cock her head to the side,"aren't moles almost blind?"

Judy just smirked and waited for realization to sink in.

And when it finally did in form of a disgruntled "HEY!", she broke out into laughter and so did Runa.

They laughed for a while until there was a weird smell in the air and Runa rushed back to the skillet to stirr the contents with an oversized spatula.

After she had made sure that the food was not ruined she turned her head around and asked the question that had been on her mind ever since Judy had entered the room.  
"How is the fox doing?"

Judy gave a sigh,"His short term memory is still not back. So he still does not remember the last time he woke up. And consequently he does not remember what we were talking about the last time he woke up."

And Runa chimed in,"Or the time before that!"

"Not helping Runa! The doctor is actually getting worried you know." Added Judy while her eyes went to her feet.

The scent of burning meat filled her nostrils once more and she felt her knees getting weak.

Maybe coming here had not been such a good idea.  
At least she was not throwing up immediately like she had the first few times she had come to visit Runa while she had been cooking.

Judy had made it a habit to come here everytime Runa was cooking. She could not help herself, even if the younger rabbit looked like she did not care...Judy felt the urge to be by her side. To help her through this by sheer presence, to show her that she was not alone. To tell her that her actions were appreciated.

But it was usually Judy herself who ended up getting comforted.

"What about you? Getting worried?" Asked Runa calmly as she added spices to her creation.

Judy nodded even though Runa was far too fixated on the skillet to notice.  
"He saved my life and he is a good mammal, if I play my cards right maybe even a future ally. Of course I am worried."

Runa nodded sagely,"so what did you two talk about then?"

Judy gave a heavy sigh and her paw unconsciously positioned itself over the wound on her side that had not been there just two days ago.  
"The same thing we talked about the last few times."

 

 

**Earlier**

 

 

The room was dark and Nick felt like his head was splitting in half. The last thing he could remember was some weird nightmare. It had to be.

Predators had gone savage and started to kill eachother.

And he had been with that rabbit and then...another jolt of pain went through his head.  
Then what...it was all so hazy.

It took him a while but his thoughts became more organized as he slowly shrugged off the last bit of sleep that clung to his mind.

The rabbit...Judy!

It had not been a dream, right?

It suddenly came back to him.

There had been a terror attack on the city and he had found the rabbit in the appartment of that terrorist...and she had turned out to be a terrorist as well.

A weak sigh escaped him as he ordered his thoughts.

After a few minuted though he realized that he was not alone in the room, wherever he was.

He could hear the sound of faint rythmic breathing coming from the other end of the room and he sat himself up to get a better look.

Nick immediatly regretted this course of action though as his head seemed to swirl in protest and he felt as if he was about to throw up.

Damn...he had a concussion.

Which was to be expected he still remembered falling down an entire floor in the mall.

As his head continued spinning he slowly adjusted to the darkness around him and in the opposite corner of the room he saw a bunny that had fallen asleep on a chair.

The doe was positively adorable to watch as she was slumped together on the chair. As his nightvision finally got better he saw that one of her ears was covering her muzzle and was actually swinging in the rythm of her breaths.

Damn he would have to be checked for diabetes after this.

He knew that it was Judy, he could tell from her scent.

But why would she be in a hospital?

Was he even in a hospital?

Only one way to find out thought Nick and he was about to roll out of his bed when something stopped him.

He looked down and saw that he was cuffed to the bed.

A low growl escaped him despite his battered condition.

Judy seemed to be a light sleeper since this was enough to make her wake up and jump to attention, almost throwing over the chair she had been sleeping on.

He did not care though as he inspected the cuffs.

They were of low quality, easily pickable, unlike the advanced cuffs that the ZPD was using.

So he started to use his paws in an attempt to free himself but his head stopped him once more.

However that did not entirely stop as he simply attempted it once more once his headache settled down.

At least he did until he felt a much smaller paw on his cuffed paw.

"Please don't." Said Judy as she stroked his paw carefully. There was a caring tenderness in her voice that made him stop what he was doing completely.

He gave another sigh and slumped back into his pillow in defeat.

Judy took this as her cue to hop onto his bed and she sat down on the bed with crossed legs.

"You are safe for now."

That sounded like a lie.

He was most likely in FPM custody and that meant that he was in a terrorist hideout. There was no way that he would come out of this alive.

"What makes you say that?" Asked Nick, freely voicing his concerns. He knew that he was beat.  
He was hurt and he was in the belly of the beast. Even if he managed to get his cuffs off and beat Judy, he would probaly be taken down as soon as he left the room.

"Because I am here." Her word did not sound totally honest, but he did not blame her. In fact he believed her.

She was probably the only reason why he was still alive and she probably had no idea how long she would be able to maintain this status quo, he was a cop afterall.

So he went on towards the obvious next question.

"How long was I out?"

He could hear Judy's teeth grind before she answered.

"Eight days, you were out for eight days."

A shiver ran down his spine.

"I was out for that long?"

He could see Judy hesistate before she answered.

"Yes and no."

Now Nick was confused and his head started to act up once more.

"What..what is that supposed to mean?"

Before she answered Judy grabbed something from her pocket. It turned out to be a small bottle containing what seemed to be pills, at least that was his guess based on the sound that the small bottle made.

"Migranes again?" She opened the bottle and took something out and presented it to him. "Here swallow this, it should help."

Before he could answer she pushed her paw towards his muzzle. His first instinct was to dodge, but given the circumstances he opened his muzzle and she dropped the pill onto his tongue.

It certainly felt and tasted like an average headache pill, so he swallowed.

Even in the dark he could see Judy's grin. "Attaboy! To answer your question, yes it has been eight days since the incident in the mall and no you were not out for eight consecutive days."

"But how that makes no sense! I do not rem.."

"Yes!" Judy cut in before he could finish his sentence. "You don't remember...because you have short term memory loss Nick."

He could his stomach turn as he heard these words. And his heart started pounding harder and harder in his chest.

It was true, he did not remember waking up! And after what had happened there was no way that he would be out for eight days. Not with just a concussion and not after still getting up and making it out of the mall.

But short term memory loss?

That was a scary thing!

What if he was like this forever?

What if he had been here much longer than eight days?

How would he know?

He started hyperventilating and Judy grabbed his paw and began stroking it.

"Relax Nick, you will be fine. The doc said that it will go away."

Her touch combined with her words calmed him down, if only a little.

"I am here with you Nick, I will help you get through this."

Nick flinched and his thoughts came to a full stop.

"Why?" He asked this question far more icy than he had intended.

Now it was Judy's turn to flinch and she attempted to let go of his paw but he grabbed her before she could.

"Www..what do you mean why?" She started stuttering as he pulled her closer and grabbed her arm instead of her paw.

It was clear that she was scared. BINGO! Though Nick he had seen through her.

"Why would you help me like this, I am your enemy afterall."

He could hear how her breathing picked up.

"I..I did not mean it that way Nick. I sincerely want you to get better! Really!" She blurted out. "And I am facing a lot of backlash from my comrades because of this."

Nick looked at her in total disbelief.

Years of being a cop had told him how to read a mammal and he could usually smells lies from miles away.  
She was not lying!

"You are right, I am still a member of the FPM and you are a cop. But you saved my life and I believe that you are a good mammal, despite..."

Suddenly he smelled something that had not been been there before...blood!

It was coming from Judy and it made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

She seemed to have smelled it as well, as her paw went to her side instinctively to apply pressure to the wound.

Nick could feel his anger falter and he asked with true compassion.

"Are you alright?"

The bunny before him nodded. "I think I am."

"What happened?" The only reason he could think of for her starting to bleed was that a relatively new wound had reopened due to stress.

Stress which he had inflicted on her.

After all she seemed to have done for him.

"I got hurt two days ago when..." She stopped mid sentece and her eyes darted towards him and stared at him where they stopped.

She seemed frozen, as if she had said something wrong.

Two days ago when what happened?

What happened two days ago that she could not tell...him.

Another shiver went down his spine and he had to know.

Nick loosened his grip on her arm as he carefully chose his next words.

"Did I do that to you?" The question was completely emotionless as he switched to his pokerface.

The silence that followed was almost deafening and he could feel his heartbeat pick up.

She was a terrorist and she deserved everything that happened to her. But if she had been by his side for the last eight days and cared for him and protected him from the wrath of her comrades then she did not deserve him attacking her for whatever reason.  
His mother would have killed him if she knew.

Her answer came meekly after another minute or so passed in silence.  
"You did, but I am at fault."

Her admission of fault made Nick curious.

"What makes you say that? If you took care of me like this then I have no reason to harm you."

He was about to apologize for his behaviour when Judy shook her head.

"Promise that you will listen and not get mad. I in turn promise that I will not push the matter for now."

He felt really confused but answered nevertheless,"alright I promise. What is that even supposed to mean?"

"I pushed you to join the FPM and I might have elaborated on what my comrades plan to do with you if you don't come around."

The first thing that happened was that his jaw dropped, the second was that a wave of realization rushed over him.

He chuckled, of course, she wanted him to become a traitor and had threatened him.

"Why are you telling me this?" He genuinely wanted to know but he knew that she had no reason to tell him her actual reason.

Not with the way that his brain worked right now.

"I want to be honest with you Nick. To you it might feel like the first time we had this conversation, but to me it is the thirteenth time. I tried lying, I tried beggin and I tried threatening you. But that was wrong of me and I hope you can forgive me."

She pulled her arm loosed gently and grabbed his paw once more, this time with both of her paws.

"We need mammals like you Nick, now more than ever! We are so close to changing this country for the better. Peacefully even!"

Now it was Nick's turn to pull his paw away.

"You mean to say that you need me to betray my country and try to enforce that little pipedream of yours."

He pulled his paw further away and tried to sit himself up without throwing up.

Even when he was not fully upright he still towered over Judy.

But despite the fact that a predator was looming over her, she did not move a muscle. Rather she calmy observed him as well as she possibly could without any actual nightvision. And Nick went for the counter offensive.

"Tell me if this sounds familiar, little idealistic bunny escaped from a farm and makes her way all the way to Zootopia where she joins the FPM to fight for freedom and equality. Only to find out that we predators are much stronger than you anticipated, whoopsy. And the plan to liberate prey turns out to be ludicrous since history clearly shows that it is a really bad idea, double whoopsy. But the bunny ignores this and still carries on. And so time passes, months turn into years and the bunny rises up the ranks. Still believing that she is fighting for a righteous cause. Only to later realize that what she has been fighting for will be the demise of the entire country if it actually comes to pass."

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Yelled Judy angrily at the shadow looming over her.

"But I do." Countered Nick,"your ancestors made that pretty clear. Whenever prey was given free will they showed that they cannot be allowed to make their own decisions. That is just the way that it is. You are fighting to free prey and history clearly shows that it is the very essence of a bad idea."

"But do you really need to kill us when we are so young?" Asked Judy desperately and he could smell another new scent, tears.

"Do you know how hard it is for us rabbits to get have our parents culled once they are 25 years old?"

Nick flinched, he knew that some prey species had really short life spans due to their high reproduction rates. It was something that actually rubbed him the wrong way.

"I...I..uhm..."

"See! You have no answer for that! Because it is just unjust."

He could hear Judy sniffling as she continued with a broken voice.  
"No kit should have their parents take away from them that early."

For a moment Nick felt a stinging pain in his heart.

He knew what it was like to loose a family member early. His father had been an agent just like his sister was and he had been killed in the war.

It had been devastating, and if his mom had not been there...he had no idea what would have become of him and his sister.

A tear rolled down his cheek and he pulled Judy into his arms who started crying freely as he did.

And they remained that way until Nick fell asleep once more.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> I am having writers Block which is delaying everything that I am doing. Writing stories on a phone is hard and I think the fact that I dont have a real computer and that it takes much longer to finish a single chapter is keeping me from actually writing at my full capacity.
> 
> So I apologize if this chapter has mistakes in it it is hard to proofread on a phone.


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